(1)

Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya

Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya

Mrytonmamritang Gamayeti

Hon’ble Speaker Sir,

By chanting the same sacred verse, last time, I stood

before you on 26th of July 2016 for presenting the State

Budget of 2016-17. After this august House passed the

budget, the Assam Appropriation (No.IV) Act, 2016 was

published in the Gazette on 24th of August 2016. It means

that exactly after 5 months 13 days after notification of

the last budget, I, now rise to present the Annual Financial

Statement containing Receipts and Expenditure for the

whole year of 2017-18.

1. Sir, I mentioned in my last budget speech that this

duty of presentation of budget was solemnly carried

out on the basis of three vital teachings from the

Upanishads: Reality, Knowledge and Selflessness.

Our dynamic and progressive leader, Shri Sarbananda

Sonowal, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam, too believes

in these principles, in letter and spirit. Before I begin

my speech, I would like to reiterate that the endeavour

of our Government is to serve the 3.25 crore people of

Assam. Our endeavour is to mitigate their plight and

take them to newer heights of development. We are

committed to the State of Assam which is our

motherland. On this occasion, I recall a great poem of

Padmashri Nalini Bala Devi expressing the deepest

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gratitude to our motherland. I would recite two stanzas

from this poem : While doing so, I also salute this

great land and bow before the people of the State:

Œ˜ø˘À˘± õ∂Ô˜ ‰¬fl≈¡ ŒÓ¬±˜±1 Œfl¡±˘±ÀÓ¬ ’±˝◊√√

Ê√Ú˜1 ’±ø√˜ ¬Û≈ª±Ó¬,

˜≈ø√˜ ’±Àfl¡Ã ‰¬fl≈¡ ŒÓ¬±˜±1 Œfl¡±˘±ÀÓ¬ q˝◊√√

Ê√œªÚ1 Œ˙¯∏ ¸øg˚˛±Ó¬º

˜1±1 ø¬ÛÂ√ÀÓ¬± Œ˚Ú ¬Û±›“ø˝√√ ’±Àfl¡Ã ͬ±˝◊√√

Œ‰¬ÀÚ˝√√1 ˙œÓ¬˘œ Œfl¡±˘±Ó¬,

ˆ¬±·1n∏ª± ’±R±˝◊√√ Œ˙¯∏1 øÊ√1øÌ ∆˘

øÊ√1±¬ıø˝√√ ŒÓ¬±˜±1 Â√±˚˛±Ó¬º

2. I have just mentioned that I am presenting this budget

just after less than six months of the last budget

notified. To be more precise, just five months and

thirteen days how much or less is this ‘time’ for

implementation of the annual budget meant for one

full year? According to the Hindu theory of creation,

‘time’ (Sanskrit ‘kal’) is a manifestation of God.

Creation begins when God makes his energies active

and ends when he withdraws all his energies into a

state of inactivity

3. This theory fits perfectly into the philosophy of electoral politics and

democratic governance. We got a total time span of 5 months & 13

days to deliver the mandate. We regard this as God given opportunity

as more than three crore people of Assam have blessed this Government

Godspeed. Speaker Sir, we stand committed to serve all, with a special

eye on serving the poorest of the poor. We firmly believe in Mahatma

Gandhi’s life philosophy, “Serving the poor is serving the God”.

(3)

4. By saying so, I am invoking the concept of Daridra

Narayana. Swami Vivekananda maintained that,

"Service to God should mean service to the poor". He

coined the word, Daridra Narayana– "God in the poor

and the lowly"- as a religious axiom. Daridra Narayana

brought in an element of sense of duty which was

enjoined on men and women to serve the poor if they

wanted to serve God. While Swami Vivekananda coined

this term and preached this concept, Mahatma Gandhi

followed and executed this in his daily life.

5. Presentation of budget is a solemn function. It is also

an occasion to remember all the greats and their

contribution in nation building. About 150 years ago,

in a single decade of the 19th century, three great

men were born in India: Kabi Guru Rabindranath

Tagore on May 7, 1861, Swami Vivekananda on

January 12, 1863 and Mahatma Gandhi on October

2, 1869. Each became a formidable figure in his sphere

of work and became maha manav to inspire and

influence this great nation forever.

6. As I proceed with my speech, you would find that the

values and morals of these great people are the basic

building blocks of our functioning. These values are

the guiding force of our Government to pursue its

four-point agenda to make Assam Videshi Mukt,

Durneeti Mukt, Santrashvad Mukt, and Pradushan

Mukt (Free from foreigners, corruption, extremism

and Pollution).

7. We got a limited time since the last budget. I have

this option - to avoid referring to my previous budget

and state that our Government did not have enough

time to implement the full year budget in such a short

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time. Such an option is natural, genuine, easy and

unquestionable.

8. Choosing an easy option, Hon'ble Members, is an

ordinary approach. Our Government believes in

Parivartan, both in words and deeds and this

Government has fire in its soul and grace in its heart.

I am a firm believer of the popular saying, "What is to

give Light must endure burning". So, we will endure.

We have chosen the difficult option of apprising this

August House and people of the State on what we

could achieve in these few months along with what

we intend to do in the financial year 2017-18.

9. While a few have been heard saying that most of the

budget announcements were not implemented, I

humbly submit that we are implementing most of the

pronouncements. Once the financial year 2016-17 is

over, I will stand before you again and give you a

detailed account of what we have achieved. This is my

solemn assurance.

10. In my last budget speech, I mentioned about

Parivartan as a process of Evolution that deepens the

process of engagement of the Government with the

people and with the last man and woman in the field

and I also dwelt on seven changes that we intend to

bring about.

11. I spoke about the New Model of Governance as an art

and the practice of Pure Politics and Clean Public

Service. I promised that the architecture of such

Governance would be erected on four pillars, namely

(1) Personal Integrity (2) Political Inclusivity (3)

Governance Legitimacy and (4) People Participation

and presented my first budget along these four

themes. Our Government would like to reiterate our

commitment to these four pillars of the New Model of

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Governance in Assam and the current budget will

continue to follow the same & deepen the process of

Pure Politics and Clean Public Service.

12. Sir, we believe in integrity, which means choosing

our thoughts and actions based on values rather than

personal gains. Over a period of time, governance in

the State was pre-occupied with personal gains

through unethical and immoral activities. This

darkness and corruption has eaten into the vitals of

our society. It engulfed a constitutional body like the

Assam Public Service Commission (APSC). In the Social

Welfare Department, it gobbled up the food of

malnourished pregnant mothers, poor nursing

mothers, and that of infants & children. It did not

stop at that. The very symbol of Assam's heritage and

pride, the world famous one-horned Rhinoceros of

Kaziranga was not also spared.

13. We want to change the political discourse of Assam

for the better and forever. I need not boast of our

Government's efforts of the last six months in removing

this darkness and bringing honesty and integrity into

the system. Our Chief Minister is humble. We are

ordinary people. We are doing ordinary things. But

the only difference is that we are doing ordinary things

with absolute integrity. There is a saying, "Great men

and women are not extra-ordinary people who do

extra-ordinary things. They are ordinary people who

do ordinary things with integrity."

14. The very first decision of the first cabinet meeting

under the bold leadership of our Hon'ble Chief

Minister was to dismantle all illegal check posts in

the State. Our Government would not like to take

credit for the unprecedented and bold action taken

for lawful action against people involved in systemic

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corruption in APSC, Social Welfare Department, Forest

Department, etc. Indeed we feel very low in the eyes

of the people of the State and the country to have

inherited such a governance. Our Government does

not want to waste time in blaming anyone. Rather we

want to reform the systems which will restore the

honour and glory of the State. We have been trying

to create an environme nt in which integrity will

flourish at every level from individuals to the Society

at large.

15. Our Chief Minister is leading by example in personal

integrity. He strongly believes that the sanctity of

higher educational institutions like Universities should

be protected and Chancellorship of Universities cannot

be held by the Chief Minister. By standing to these

values, he has decided to make necessary changes in

the legislations of the concerned Universities including

the Cotton University.

16. I would also like to quote a small example on the

impact of personal integrity in our governance.

Education Department has been annually buying the

laptops for Anundoram Borooah Award for the

meritorious students. This year the value of laptop

has suddenly come down by more than 30% from Rs

19,950 till last year to Rs 13,591 now. This shows the

power of integrity and impact of clean systems in

governance.

17. Political Inclusivity is another theme that this

Government has been following in every policy and

programme and we believe that the development and

growth of the state will take strong roots only if every

household of the State, irrespective of their political

beliefs, party affiliations or caste and creed participate

in the development process. Our Government

organized visits of Hon'ble MLAs of all parties to the

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international borders of the State to understand the

complexities of the borders. For the first time in the

history of Assam, State Government conducted pre-

budget consultations with the Hon'ble MLAs of all

political parties to seek their advice and guidance in

the preparation of this budget. We have launched a

large scale mission mode project, Chief Minister's

Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY) with a

model of "saturation'', covering every village of the

State. In fact, this Mega Mission was inaugurated on

5th of February 2017 and I will dwell more on this in

my subsequent paragraphs.

18. Governance legitimacy has started its fresh green

shoots with a series of responsive and sincere attempts

such as eviction of encroachers in Kaziranga National

Park, and many other Government lands. Leading by

example and leading by inspiration, our visionary

leader, Shri Sarbanada Sonowal has been minutely

monitoring every small development in the State with

the highest level of sensitivity and responsiveness.

19. I said last time that each of our policies will be citizen-

centric and always focussed on the last man or woman

in the field. Within this short period, several such

programmes were implemented with complete

sincerity and respect to the people of the State. We

immensely thank the family members of 855 martyrs

of Assam agitation for giving us an opportunity to pay

homage to the martyrs in Guwahati on 10th of

December 2016 They had taken the trouble to come

from the nook and corner of the State to bless this

Government by accepting a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh

per family as token of appreciation from the State

Government.

20. Our rich culture and basic traditions are rooted in

community activities and are associated with many

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colourful festivals. The series of festivals and fairs that

our Government has been conducting jointly with the

Central Government, NGOs and other Social entities

during the last five months are central to the theme

of "People participation in Governance". Brahmaputra

Literary Festival, Namami Brahmaputra, Festival of

Faiths etc. are first-ever events being organized in the

State.

21. We presented a White Paper in this August House on

3 June 2016 within ten days of this Government taking

office. Innovation, self-confidence and restoring the

sanctity of the budget were the cornerstones for new

thinking and the goal has been to come out of the

dependency syndrome and develop resources from

within the State. In this direction, I clearly laid out in

the White Paper that we wanted to surge ahead with

a focused motto and launched the ReSTART Assam

programme to mop up maximum possible resources

from within the state through a coordinated and

concerted mission mode programme, Restructuring

Systems and Technology for Augmentation of

Resources for Transformed Assam, in short, ReSTART

Assam. I am happy to state that this has started

yielding results and I will give you a detailed account

of this in the second part of my presentation.

SYMBOL OF ASSAM'S GROWING SELF

CONFIDENCE

22. A series of successful initiatives of our Government

has caught the attention of everyone within and

outside the State. Assam is in the limelight for a

change, and for good reasons. In the last few months,

there have been several proud moments which have

raised the self-confidence of the State.

ASSAM : THE FIRST STATE TO RATIFY GST BILL

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23. The great beginning started, rightly so, in this August

House itself, when we ratified the GST Bill on 12th of

August 2016 and thus helped Assam to become the

first State in the country to do so. I congratulate all of

you for this honour.

ASSAM'S SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN GST COUNCIL

24. As a member of the GST Council, Assam succeeded

in drawing enormous long term benefits as part of

the proposed legislation and our presence was

acknowledged at the National-level deliberations of

the GST Council. It was a historical achievement that

we got a favourable compensation formula at fixed

growth rate at 14% while in the last ten years our

growth rate has never been at this level. Secondly,

the tax exempted for industries as incentives was never

treated as part of revenue calculations and Assam was

able to convince the GST Council to include the same

while calculating the loss arising out of GST. This

special provision was now made in the proposed

legislation for North East and Hilly States only. You

will get full opportunity to deliberate and debate on

this, when the State GST Bill is introduced in this

House as soon as the draft is circulated to the States,

by the GST council.

RECEIPT OF RS. 1450 CRORES AS OIL ROYALTY

ARREARS IN ABOUT 70 DAYS OF THE NEW

GOVERNMENT

25. The State of Assam has been deprived of its legitimate

royalty on crude oil at pre-discounted price for the

last one decade. This is a very serious matter for a

resource-poor state like ours and we should not have

wasted such a long time in mere politicising of the

issue and it reminds me of Sir Issac Newton's saying,

"We build too many walls and not enough bridges".

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26. But our Government started building bridges with the

Oil PSUs and GoI and made sincere efforts in the court

proceedings. Our Government was quick in taking up

the issue with central government and we have

received Rs 1450 crore in the first week of August

2016 at par with Gujarat. We will continue our pursuit

to get the remaining dues and we are very confident

that we will come back to you with good news soon.

We are working with Gujrat Government very closely

on this.

HISTORICAL POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE

DECISIONS

27. A quick but accountable system of expenditure of

public money holds the key to rapid development.

But we have more than 80 years old of colonial relic,

called Assam Treasury Rules, 1937 still in force. As it

was required to replace this with the most progressive

set of Rules, the State Cabinet in its meeting held on

28th of January 2017 under the Chairmanship of our

dynamic Chief Minister approved new Rules viz.,

Assam Treasury Rules 2017. This is a historic step

and these Rules will come into effect from 1 April 2017.

28. Another colonial cousin of the Treasury Rules is the

Assam Excise Act 1910. The new Rules were already

made effective by our Government from 1st of

September 2016. But the most amusing fact is that

though this August House replaced the Assam Excise

Act 1910 with Assam Excise Act, 2000, this new Act

was not given effectiveness for 16 years! One can

imagine what could be the reasons for the same and

at what cost to the public exchequer for 16 years !

29. I compliment my cabinet colleague, Shri Parimal

Suklabaidya, Hon'ble Minister, Excise Department,

for the path breaking reforms in state excise covering

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both IMFL and country liquor. In simple terms, the

result of the reform is that now, excise duty is levied

from 80 points across the state compared to the earlier

procedure of collecting it from 2000 points spread

across the state. More points for collection means more

chances for leakages and corruption. The results in

terms of increased revenues are already evident and I

will give you the details in the later part of my

presentation.

30. Similarly, another bold reform is set to happen in the

much maligned and opaque systems of country liquor

business. A new policy was recently approved by the

Cabinet in this regard. It would provide for collection

for excise duty/revenue from 80 points compared to

the existing system of 178 points besides moving to

less harmful grain based spirit from molasses based

and hygienically bottled and labelled.

31. Agar wood can be "Green-Gold" for Assam's economy.

But, the system has been encouraging the illegal trade

and business of agar wood and in the process, the

common villagers and cultivators are being harassed.

Our cabinet has already considered the proposed new

law and the Environment and Forest Department

would be introducing the Bill very soon so that the

cultivation, harvesting and processing of agarwood and

its by-products would be encouraged and regulated

in such a way that it would be a major source of rural

income. I congratulate our senior member of the

Cabinet and Hon'ble Minister for Environment and

Forest Department, Smti Pramila Rani Brahma for this

path-breaking and forward looking law. This would

transform the department from a Regulatory into a

Welfare Department.

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ASSAM MODEL : SMOOTH HANDLING OF WAGE

PAYMENT TO TEA GARDEN WORKERS DURING

DEMONETIZATION DRIVE

32. When the demonetization was announced on 8th of

November 2016 along with restrictions on cash

withdrawals, the biggest challenge before us was to

ensure the timely release of weekly wages in cash to

more than 7 lakh tea garden workers of the State. We

were fully conscious of the age-old tradition of weekly

payment of wages in cash and how it developed into,

over a period of time, if I may call, "a weekly life cycle"

of an average tea garden worker and how critical the

impact would be, if wages are not paid timely. Our

swift move, by taking RBI, SBI and other major bankers

into confidence, ensured the smooth payment of wages

by allowing the tea garden management to draw the

cash through Government accounts maintained by

the district administration. Indeed, this procedure has

become popular in other tea growing states as the

"Assam model!"

MANY FIRSTS IN ASSAM: MANAGING THE

DEMONETIZATION

33. We saw a great opportunity to push less cash economy

at the heights of most challenging times of

Demonetization. In fact, our Government would like

to express its deep gratitude to the people of Assam

for their exemplary discipline and enormous patience

to bear with the hardships due to this national

exercise. We also appreciate the sincere efforts of our

friends from the banking sector, other stakeholders

from trade and commerce and the District

Administration. This helped us not only in bringing

the situation to near normalcy in the state within a

few days but also in innovating new ways to deal with

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the situation. This is in fact the spirit of "Team Assam,"

that our Chief Minister has been talking about. Assam

was, indeed, the first state to implement several

measures in this regard. To quote, a few:

a) Mobile ATMs in hospitals were deployed in Assam

for the first time in the country and Government

of India advised all other states to follow this

measure.

b) Worked with bankers as a single team and

managed the queues and crowds in the first three

days at the banks and ATMs very smoothly.

Queues disappeared within the very first week

after demonetisation itself.

c) Door delivery of cash to pensioners in Guwahati

and important towns.

d) More than 6 lakh bank accounts were opened

for tea garden workers in a record time and made

them financially inclusive in real terms.

e) ATMs were opened in tea garden areas and

workers started to proudly use them to withdraw

their wages.

f) We on our own, declared 18 incentives from the

State Government for promoting less cash and

more digital means for financial transactions in

Assam covering all important stakeholders of the

society covering farmers, Mauzadars, Fair Price

Shops, GPSS, Students, Patients, Gaon

Panchayats, Municipality tax payers, Bankers,

Deputy Commissioners and consumers of petrol

and diesel. Assam was the first state to come up

with such a comprehensive incentive package in

this regard.

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g) We also exempted POS machines, ATMs, brand

band equipment etc from entry tax till the end of

financial year 2016-17 to facilitate digital

transactions.

h) Massive campaign to promote more digital

transactions through Digidhan melas up to Gaon

Panchayat level.

34. Sir, you may be aware that our visionary leader Shri

Narendra Modi, Hon'ble Prime Minister, spoke about

these initiatives of our State in his "Mann ki Baat"

and indeed, it was a proud moment for all the people

of Assam and a real recognition of the sincerity of this

Government in cleaning up the system and bringing

integrity in all walks of life.

35. These are few shining examples that symbolize the

growing self-confidence of the State.

THEME OF THE BUDGET 2017-18 : RESURGENT

ASSAM

36. The central theme of this budget is 'Resurgent Assam'.

This has six strategies covering the entire spectrum

of the society. These strategies are: (1) Reform,

Consolidate and Strengthen the Public Financial

Management, (2) Boost the Public Infrastructure and

the first ever focus on urban areas and on Professional

Colleges and Universities (3) Farmer-Youth-Women-

Divyang Welfare, (4) Rural Development and

Employment Generation (5) Financial Inclusion and

(6) Cultural and Economic Renaissance centred on

History and Heritage of Assam.

The above strategies run across my budget speech

and you will find the relevant policies and

announcements in different departments for easy

comprehension and of course, some will cut across

multiple departments.

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I would also like to highlight another unique feature

of this budget. Our Government believes that the

strength of Assam lies in its history, heritage, and its

indigenousness. Muga is the Colour of our society.

Tea is the Taste of Assam. Fish is the Life-line of our

people and Rhino is the Energy that drives our spirits.

37. In this budget, you will find our missionary focus on

Muga, policy interventions to unleash the land value

of Small Tea Gardens, develop the gene bank for

indigenous fish species like Puthi, Dorikona, Baralia,

Khalihana, Chelakani, Bata and Aleng, establishment

of Fast-track Wildlife courts in Kaziranga and the

creation of more breathing space for Rhinos by evicting

the encroachers in the National Park area.

38. Now I turn to the first strategy, which is to Reform,

Consolidate and Strengthen the Public Financial

Management.

39. You are aware of the fiscal situation that this

Government inherited and that situation was clearly

brought out in my white paper that was laid out in

this August House on 3rd of June 2016 and I do not

want to waste your valuable time dwelling on the same

again.

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT: FROM

CONTROL TO PROACTIVE FINANCIAL

MANAGEMENT

40. Our emphasis is productive expenditure. Accordingly,

we have been attempting to improve the systems and

procedures.

41. As promised to you about 5 months ago in the last

budget speech, we have already taken action as listed

below:

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a) Cabinet approved Assam Treasury Rules, 2017

in place of existing Rules of 1937 and it will be

effective from 1st of April 2017.

b) Ceiling (FOC) has been made online from 1st of

July 2016 as promised.

c) All employees including Muster Roll (MR) & Work

Charge (WC) employees will now get salaries &

wages monthly as they are now being brought

into the same budget category as other regular

employees.

d) Retention of posts have been simplified and no

retention would be required except for contractual

and MR and WC personnel.

e) Suo-moto FOCs have also been made effective. As

I stand and speak, a sum of Rs 1179 crore has

been released suo-moto after I promised about 5

months ago.

f) Out of the 25 new Treasuries proposed to be set

up in next 5 years, one Treasury has been made

functional and the proposal related to 17 number

of treasuries are under consideration by RBI and

AG office.

g) Process of installation of CCTVs in major

Treasuries is in progress. SMS alert to DDOs and

Payees on clearance of bill by Treasuries has been

activated.

h) E-Kuber Platform of RBI was started on a pilot

basis in two treasuries already.

i) A Committee under the Additional Chief

Secretary is considering the matter of draft Assam

Public Accountability Bill.

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j) We have issued a comprehensive and updated

Delegated Financial Powers Rules in August 2016

after a gap of 17 years.

42. Apart from the above, the Finance Department has

taken several proactive steps and I will briefly mention

some of them.

43. I would like to draw your special attention to the some

of the figures that I am quoting here. The departments

has utilised Rs. 9348.16 crore till 31st of December

2016 against Rs. 6584.20 crore during the

corresponding period of previous year. This is about

42% more than the previous year.

44. Sir, you would agree that this is a very good

achievement by any measure for a new Government,

which in a period of just 4 months of approved budget

of 2016-17, has achieved these figures! But we have

set ourselves very high targets and we want to achieve

an expenditure of not less than 60% of the total plan

allocation by February 28th, 2017 against an annual

achievement of 37% in 2015-16.

PROPOSED ACTION PLAN FOR DEEPENING THE

PROACTIVE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

45. The controlled systems of fund flow have, over a period

of time, created several layers in the processing,

sanctioning and releasing of funds. It is commonly

stated that each proposal will have to cross more than

60 tables. Our Government has chalked out a plan to

expand the online ceiling system in such a way that

the moment Finance Department issues ceiling, the

last point in the chain, i.e., DDO in the concerned

department shall receive the ceiling instantly. We will

implement this in the financial year 2017-18.

46. We have already prepared a project proposal in the

name of ASPIRe (Assam State Public Finance

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Institutional Reforms) with the assistance of World

Bank at a project cost of 44 million US dollars, the

equivalent of about Rs 300 crore. All steps required

for the commencement of the project are complete

and it is slated to start from May 2017. The activities

will cover all aspects of financial management including

strengthening the systems of Taxation, Excise

Departments and budgetary controls with treasury

management.

47. Finance Department will also set up a Cash and Debt

Management cell so that cash flow to the department

can become more proactive and cheaper options for

borrowings can be tapped.

48. Further, quarter-wise expenditure is highly skewed

and as it was noticed from previous years, the

maximum funds are spent in the last few months of

the financial year and this is the very reason for poor

financial management. While many states have come

out of this trap and currently have almost evenly

distributed quarter-wise spending, Assam has not

been able to focus on the same. The following table

shows a comparison of expenditure of the last quarter

of Assam vis-a-vis other states :

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49. Thus, we set forth a target to increasing expenditure

in the first three quarters and ensure that the last

quarter spending will never go beyond 30% over the

period of next three years.

RESTRUCTURING AND REFORMING THE BUDGET

50. We have worked overtime to restructure the budget

during the past few months to implement what I said

in the last budget.

51. I had promised that we will merge Plan and Non-Plan

Heads and now I have come to you with a budget that

has only Capital and Revenue Heads. It is a historical

moment for the State’s budget process and the budget

2017-18 will be remembered by the future generation

of Economics and Management students of the State

as the first budget prepared without the Plan and Non-

Plan classification.

52. Sir, what this means is that all employees who were

earlier drawing salaries from Plan Head will join those

who were earlier drawing their salaries from Non-Plan

and now all salaries are bucketed under the head

“Establishment Expenditure”. Thus the systemic

discrimination in the budgeting of salaries of some

categories of employees like Muster Roll (MR) and

Work-Charged (WC) employees has been drawn to a

close with this budget and I am happy to announce

that everyone will now receive their salaries and wages

regularly.

OTHER POLICY INITIATIVES

53. I am happy to inform you that our Government has

decided to redefine the role of Planning & Development

Department to a more challenging and unifying role

for the development and transformation of the State.

Thus, we plan to rechristen it as the “Department

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for Development and Transformation of Assam

(DDTA)”.

54. Further, we have already renamed the State Planning

Board as the State Innovation and Transformation

Aayog (SITA) and I have made adequate budget

provision for the same so that SITA can play a very

key role similar to NITI Aayog and guide the

departments to take up innovative interventions.

Further, SITA has already identified specific areas for

conducting the studies in the first phase. They include

the Revival of Tea Industry, Skill Development, Revival

of Sick Industries and Sustainable Management of

River Brahmaputra. The concerned administrative

departments will be closely involved in this process

and I assure that there will be no constraint of funds

for this purpose.

55. Earlier Plan funds were devolved to the Karbi-Anglong,

Dima Hasao and BTC based on a formula that was

suggested by the Phene Committee in the year 1987.

Now we do not have Plan Funds. Hence, it is necessary

to re-examine the whole matter comprehensively.

Accordingly, it has been decided to constitute a

Commission consisting of a Retired Chief Secretary

to consult all the councils including the Non-Sixth

Schedule areas and recommend a new methodology

for this purpose.

FIRST EVER PROCESS OF PRE-BUDGET

CONSULTATIONS

56. (a) With MLAs

Sir, our Government believes in starting good

traditions. For the first time in the State, we initiated

the pre-budget consultations with Hon’ble MLAs of

all political parties. I am very much grateful for the

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cooperation extended by all of them in this regard

and must place on record that some of the projects

suggested by our Hon’ble Members are very

innovative. The Finance Department has compiled all

these proposals received MLA-wise and the same will

be circulated to the departments concerned. I am

hopeful to take up these schemes phase-wise and for

this purpose, I earmark Rs.1000 crore from this budget

for the various programmes.

Similarly, each and every department led by my

Respected Cabinet Colleagues are also core to the

budget making process. I have had detailed

consultations with them also and they suggested

several signature projects which feature in this budget.

This is why Sir, I say that the Budget 2017-18 is

historic and unique.

56. (b) WITH CITIZENS AND CIVIL SOCIETY

Further, for the first time in the history of Budget

making, we held extensive consultations with the Vice

Chancellors of all Universities in addition to that with

trade bodies, business groups etc.

In response to my appeal for suggestions to improve

our Budget and our Governance, we have received

more than 1100 emails and letters from various

stakeholders of the society extending their valuable

suggestions for this budget. I express my gratitude to

all of them. I am happy to inform that some of these

suggestions like Public Paddy Procurement,

Playgrounds in every village, regularisation of a large

number of contractual TET teachers etc. have been

included in my budget proposals for 2017-18.

EMPLOYEE WELFARE MEASURES

57. Sir, you will be happy to note that our Government

has accepted the recommendations of 7th Assam Pay

and Productivity Pay Commission, by and large. You

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will remember Sir, the last Pay Commission’s

recommendations were implemented very late after

39 months and the issue of arrears was not completely

addressed by the previous Government.

Our Government does not intend to disappoint our

employees and we will implement the

recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission from

1st of April 2016.

Now question is whether we will give arrears to the

employees from 1st April 2016 or not? If we decide to

pay arrears from 1st April 2016, then the estimated

financial burden will be about Rs. 2200 crores. But,

considering the rightful dues of our employees and

the need for creating congenial work environment and

to create a healthy relation between the Government

and employees, I am pleased to announce that the

Government will pay the arrear of Rs. 2200 crore from

1st April 2016, in spite of the fact that it will give

tremendous pains to the State exchequer. The first

instalment of the arrears will be released immediately

in April-May 2017 and the balance arrears will be

paid within the fiscal 2017-18.

58. Further, I would like to share an another good news

that our Cabinet has already approved housing loan

to be provided to all Government employees at a very

low interest rate of 5.05% without any collateral

security up to a limit of Rs. 15 lakhs. We will kick

start this program with State Bank of India and

subsequently include other banks and financial

institutions also.

59. A Scheme for higher education loan for the children

of all State Government employees has also been

approved. The employees can avail this loan up to an

amount of Rs. 10 lakhs at 4% interest rate with the

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State Government bearing the rest of the interest

component.

60. We are confident that, with the increased pay scales

and with the two schemes of Housing and Educational

loans at subsidized rates, we will be able to lessen

the burden on our employees.

61. Respected Sir, I would like to highlight the issue

related to compassionate appointments in the

Government. It is generally seen that this policy has

attracted more criticism rather than helping the family

members of an employee if the employee dies in

harness.

62. A legal heir of the deceased employee may not get

the appointment immediately due to several reasons

such as lack of educational qualifications and non-

availability of vacancies within the stipulated five per

cent of total vacancies etc.

63. In fact a large number of applicants keep moving from

pillar to post and such situation has, over a period of

time, created space for exploiters and middlemen. In

view of above, our Government strongly feels that the

real objective of the compassionate policy will be served

if the immediate dependent of the deceased employee

can be allowed to draw the last drawn salary of the

employee without seeking any job. Such facility can

be made available till the date of retirement had the

employee been alive. Thereafter, the family pension

as eligible can be extended to the eligible dependent.

This would be a great relief to the family members of

the deceased and our Government will consider the

matter in this regard after discussing with the

stakeholders.

64. Further, we also propose to encourage all our

employees to wear Khadi and locally woven clothes. It

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will not only help nurturing our social values but also

boost the local Khadi and Handloom industry. For

this purpose, I have made a provision in the budget

so that every employee will be provided Rs.1000 on

reimbursement basis upon buying two Khadi apparels

every year.

65. Further, we have decided to abolish retention

procedure for almost all posts and also merged earlier

plan posts with non-plan. This will ensure regular

monthly payment of salaries to all categories of

employees.

66. Sir, with the above incentives, I am sure that the

employees are very much aware that this huge cost to

state exchequer on account of higher pay scales, cheap

housing and education loans is borne by the tax

payers and people of the State. After extending these

benefits, if the work culture and attitude of the

employees to the public do not improve and certain

sections of employees continue to resort to seeking

bribes, Government will take strictest action against

such elements. I also trust and hope that the

employees will follow the motto, “Seva and

Samvendanasilata” in letter and spirit and bring

laurels to the State as an ideal state.

ASTADASH MUKUTAR UNNOYONEE MAALA

67. Before, I turn to the Department-wise proposals, at

the outset, I would like to announce 18 key initiatives,

namely, Ashtadash Mukutar Unnoyonee Maala, for

the year 2017-18 reflecting our growing confidence.

67.1 SVAYEM (Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth

Empowerment) Yojana

Most inspirational and powerful quotes on youth

always came from none other than Swami

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Vivekananda, an evergreen youth icon of our

Motherland. I am reminded of his clarion call to youth:

‘Act on the educated young men, bring them together,

and organize them. Great things can be done by great

sacrifice only. No selfishness, no name, no fame, yours

or mine, nor my Master’s even! Work, work the idea,

the plan, my boys, my brave, noble, good souls – to

the wheel, to the wheel put your shoulders! Stop not to

look back for name, or fame, or any such nonsense.

Throw self overboard and work.’

With the above inspiration our Government would like

to take up a flagship programme on youth

empowerment taking lessons from Prime Minister’s

Mudra Yojana in Assam by name, Swami Vivekananda

Assam Youth Empowerment (SVAYEM) Yojana. Under

this programme, one lakh youth will be provided

suitable credit support for taking up income

generating enterprises. The loan amount will be up

to Rs. 1 Lakh for the new business and up to Rs. 2

Lakh for the existing entrepreneurs. State

Government will provide 20% subsidy and will also

set up ‘Risk Fund’ with select banks so that the banks

will be encouraged to advance loans without much

hesitation of recovery issues. Detailed Guidelines of

SVAYEM Yojana will be issued soon.

I set apart Rs. 200.00 crore in my budget towards

20% subsidy and Rs.100.00 crore for risk fund.

67.2 Kanaklata Mahila Sabalikaran Yojana (KAMS)

The contribution and sacrifice of our women for

progress of Assam is well known. While recognizing

the fact that energy of women is required to be used

for economic growth of the state, our Government

proposes to promote 1 lakh women self-help groups.

Each SHG will be extended a financial support upto

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Rs.5.00 lakh as loan including capital subsidy over a

period of time. An initial grant of Rs.25,000/- will be

provided to each group in the current financial year

and then subsequent support will depend on fulfilling

a set of criteria.

The P&RD Department will develop comprehensive

guidelines in this regard so that the rural women move

out of poverty through strengthening of SHGs and

their network, financial inclusion, Skill development

and marketing support.

This programme would directly help more than 10

lakh women in the State and currently I propose to

allot Rs. 250.00 crore in the current financial year.

Also as a good will gesture and as a gift to our sisters,

our Government will exempt the women SHGs from

stamp duty for documentation related to Bank loan

upto Rs.2.5 lakh in the financial year 2017-18.

67.3 Gene Bank for Indigenous Fish (GBIF)

Sir, as you know, Assam is replete with water bodies

and is an abode of fish. 160 fish species i.e. more

than 30% of the total fresh water fish varieties are

found in our region. Due to various reasons, there

has been a drastic reduction in the indigenous fish

population in Assam and 82 species have already

become endangered and might become extinct in the

near future. These include Puthi, Dorikona, Baralia,

Khalihana, Chelakani, Bata, Aleng etc. It is high time

that we intervene in the conservation of the

germplasm, propagation and restoration of these

endangered fish species which will benefit our future

generations.

This objective can only be fulfilled by scientifically

developing a directory of indigenous fish species along

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with a data base of gene-bank of entire Assam. With

the aim of conserving the Fish Biodiversity of the State,

a propagation technology will be developed and

standardized for certain fish species to suit the local

environment. This will be beneficial for the local

fisherfolk also. Accordingly, in the greater interest of

the State, it is proposed to initiate a Scientific

Conservation Programme for Indigenous Fish (SCoPIF)

by involving the Fishery College of Assam & the

Fisheries Department, covering both experimental and

natural habitat at an estimated cost of 9.36 crore.

Accordingly, I allocate Rs. 2.00 crore in the Current

Budget to kick start the project.

67.4 Reforms In Mid-Day Meal : Eggs & Cooking Gas.

Hon’ble Members, the importance of Midday Meal

Scheme cannot be overemphasized. Providing

nourishing food every day to the millions of school

children is a key focus area of our Government.

We have 42.61 lakh children in Lower Primary and

Upper Primary schools. Consequently, we have now

decided to take the step of providing eggs to all of

these children twice a week as part of the Mid Day

Meal programme.

We have estimated that it will cost about Rs 130 crore

per year. But it is not mere cost to us but is one of the

most productive investments that we can make as

Government. It improves nutrition of poor children

and also creates a local demand for eggs helping the

rural economy in its own way. Hence, I am proposing

adequate provision in the budget.

Further, cooking the meal in the school by using

firewood is one of the difficulties that the management

faces and more so during rainy and winter seasons.

Our Government intends to provide cooking gas

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connection to every Government school providing Mid

Day Meal. This will not just help our children get faster

and hotter meals but also reduce the environmental

impact. Funds are not a constraint for our Government

for this.

The most important announcement that I would like

is about ensuring timely availability of funds. There

are expenditures involved : from the purchase of raw

materials to the remuneration of cooks to other

incidental expenses. But due to non-receipt of funds

in time, the implementation of the programme suffers.

I therefore propose to introduce a system – something

akin to Green Channel - wherein the required amount

is released by the State Government in a timely

manner without waiting for releases from Government

of India. Such a system will ensure that there are no

interruptions at any stage and that the scheme is

implemented smoothly throughout the year. We will

keep a provision for recouping the central share

subsequently for necessary reimbursements.

67.5 Price Stabilisation Fund

Price rise affects the most the poor and disadvantaged.

Every year our consumers are subjected to the vagaries

of market demand for the Procurement of Essential

Commodities. The prices of Onion, Dal, Sugar, etc

among many other essential commodities often see a

sudden spike in prices and go beyond the reach of

the common citizens. This is often due to adverse

climatic conditions which are aggravated by hoarding

of these commodities by greedy traders.

To step in and correct this market failure, our

Government aims to strengthen the hands of our Food

& Civil Supplies department by providing them a “Price

Stabilization Fund”. I have made a provision of Rs.

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150 crores in my budget. In this regard, detailed

operational guidelines will be issued.

67.6 Financial Incentives For Ujwala

One of the flagship schemes of Government of India,

Ujwala, aims to provide free LPG connections to BPL

families. This visionary scheme will not just increase

the productivity of rural women and empower her to

take up other economic activities but also have a

positive effect on her health.

In order to incentivize the adoption of LPG connections

by BPL families, our Government plans to provide

financial assistance of Rs 1000/- per family. This will

fasten the adoption of LPG connections and transform

the kitchens of Rural Assam in a rapid manner. For

this purpose, I propose to allocate Rs. 5 crore in this

Budget. I will provide for more funds depending on

the requirement.

67.7 Tejasvi Navadhitamastu Edu-Infra Funds (TNEIF):

Development of Professional Colleges and

Universities

‘Tejasvi Nav-adhitam-astu’ meaning “May Our

Knowledge become Brilliant” as stated in our

Upanishads. Our Professional Colleges and

Universities are the seats of high learning from where

society gets its leaders in Science, Arts and various

other fields of national life. However, the successive

Governments in Assam have not given enough

attention to strengthen these institutes.

Unlike other educational institutions, the role of

University is too wide and critical for any society.

Revered Teacher, Dr S Radhakrishnan, succinctly laid

down the aims of University education as Chairman

of the First Education Commission 1948. His guidance

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has immense value and time-less relevance to us. The

first and foremost of the 18 aims of University

education that he mentioned was “to produce able

citizens who can take up national responsibilities

successfully in various fields. The University has to

produce able administrators and suitable workers in

various occupations and industries and the university

has to provide leadership in the various walks of life

in the best interest of the nation”.

Our Government cherishes this vision with full

commitment and therefore, I propose to allocate special

grants of Rs. 667 crore in the name of Tejasvi

Navadhitamastu Funds for infrastructure development

of Professional Colleges and Universities to be spent

over a period of three to four years as detailed here :

(Rs in Crore)

Sl. Name Total 2017-18

No. outlay

1) Guwahati Medical College and Hospital 100.00 30.00

2) Assam Medical College and Hospital 100.00 30.00

3) Silchar Medical College and Hospital 100.00 30.00

4) Gauhati University 25.00 12.50

5) Dibrugarh University 25.00 12.50

6) Assam Engineering College 25.00 6.00

7) Jorhat Engineering College 25.00 6.00

8) Bodoland University 25.00 10.00

9) Kumar Bhaskar Varman University 15.00 10.00

10) Cotton University 20.00 5.00

11) Tezpur Medical College 20.00 10.00

12) Jorhat Medical College 20.00 10.00

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I assure the hon’ble members that if I have missed

any other similar state level institute; I will make

necessary provision of funds in due course of time.

While focusing on the existing universities and

professional colleges, our Government also strongly

(Rs in Crore)

Sl. Name Total 2017-18

No. outlay

13) Barpeta Medical College 20.00 10.00

14) Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat 20.00 10.00

15) Horticultural College, Dharmapur 15.00 5.00

16) IIIT, Guwahati 15.00 14.80

17) Veterinary College, AAU, Khanapara 10.00 5.00

18) K K Handique Open University 10.00 5.00

19) Veterinary College, North Lakhimpur 10.00 10.00

20) Agriculture College, Biswanath 10.00 10.00

21) Government Ayurvedic Medical College 10.00 3.00

22) Jorhat Institute of Science and Technology 10.00 5.00

23) B Brahma Engineering College 10.00 5.00

24) Science & Technology University, Assam 7.00 3.50

25) Agriculture Collge, Dhubri 5.00 5.00

26) Fishery College, Raha 5.00 5.00

27) Homeopathy College, Jorhat 2.00 1.00

28) Homeopathy College, Nagaon 2.00 1.00

29) Homeopathy College, Guwahati 2.00 1.00

30) Luit Konwar Rudra Barua State College of Music, Panjabari 2.00 1.00

31) Government College of Art and Crafts, Basistha 2.00 1.00

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believes in increasing the number of such institutes

to strengthen the foundations of the society for

generations to come.

I propose to start 8 women colleges in Minority

dominated areas, three Government Degree Colleges,

three Polytechnics, 20 B.Ed Colleges, 33 Skill

Development centers, one Dairy Science College at

Sorbhog, one Agro Forestry and Biodiversity College

at Kukilabari, a new University of Veterinary and Life

Science by carving from Assam Agriculture university,

a new Cultural University in Majuli and three

Universities at Hojai, North Lakhimpur and Barpeta

District.

Hon’ble Members must have noticed that I have not

mentioned the exact location of some of the proposed

institutions as the Site Selection Committee will

finalise the locations depending on the feasibility.

However, I am pleased to inform that out of 20 B.Ed

Colleges, three Colleges will be established, one each

in Karbi-Anglong, Dima Hasao and B.T.A.D areas.

67.8 City Infra Development Fund (CIDF)

It is said that “The city is humanity’s laboratory, where

people flock to dream, create, build, and rebuild”. To

rekindle the dreams of our people, we are launching

the ‘Big Cities Amenities Development Fund (BCADF)’

worth Rs.1200 crores to be spent on big public

infrastructure projects, in the 6 large cities of the State

with more than one lakh population: Silchar, Tinsukia,

Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Nagaon and Tezpur. Each city will

be allocated Rs. 200 crore.

Over a period of time, there has been a criticism that

the successive State Governments have focused only

in Guwahati. In this regard I would like to reiterate

that our government is conscious of the fact that while

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Guwahati will continue to get priority as State Capital

and gateway to North East India, we need to focus on

improving the urban infrastructure of other important

cities and towns of Assam to ensure balanced regional

growth.

Though there is some funding under the missions of

the Union Government such as AMRUT, PMAY, etc,

there is an acute need for more investment from the

State Government in the urban areas, especially in

more populous cities, in a consistent manner over a

period of five years.

In this budget, I propose to allocate Rs 120 crore. I

request the members of this august House belonging

to these cities and the concerned districts to develop

projects like river-front, Public Parks, Landmark

Roads, Marriage halls, District Libraries, District

Stadiums etc. For instance, in Dibrugarh, Riverfront

development will be one of our big priorities.

67.9 CMSGUY – Entry Point Activities

In my last budget, I announced a mega mission, Chief

Minister’s Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana

(CMSGUY) with an outlay of Rs. 30,000 crore over a

period of five years to double the farmers’ income.

I am happy to inform the honorable members that

Rs. 500 crore was already transferred to the Mega

Mission Society and Rs. 1000 crore more has also

been provided in the Supplementary Demand of 2016-

17. Other Missions under the Mega Mission are being

registered.

Sir, you will be delighted to know that the Governing

Council of the Mega Mission Society under the

Chairmanship of our Hon’ble Chief Minister has

recently decided to implement three important entry-

point activities. These include:

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(a) Supply of new tractors for farm mechanization

in each Revenue Village.

(b) Football field development in convergence with

MGNREGA in each Revenue Village.

(c) Establishment of Knowledge Centres in each

Panchayat.

67.10 Mission Muga

Some scholars referred that Kautilya (350 to 275 BC)

mentioned that ‘Dukula’, a kind of silk fabric, produced

from cocoons of certain species of insects, in ancient

Assam. This ‘Dukula’ was described to have three

varieties including one was of golden colour and was

popular in ‘Suvarnakudya’ (present Assam). As per

the British records, Ahom period was golden era for

muga cultivation and no woman was considered

accomplished unless she had attained proficiency in

spinning and weaving. On the other hand, a girl having

no knowledge of weaving was called ‘Thupuri’, ‘a girl

misfit for marriage’.

In Assam, strength of silk industry lies in 16.43 lakh

weavers and 2.75 lakhs rearers and we all know 99%

weavers are women. I propose a very ambitious mission

to increase production of muga silk by 10 times by

the year 2026 and our Government’s vision is that

Assam shall emerge as a leader in the world market.

Such programme requires a comprehensive and

integrated mission mode project to cover whole range

of activities from growing a large scale host plantation

of muga, saulu, dighlati, involving the muga rearers,

weavers and upto marketing through modern outlets

and on e-marketing over internet to reach the

customers globally. We have a registered society in

the Handloom Textiles and Sericulture Department

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namely Assam Silk Outreach Mission Society which

will be responsible for taking up such challenging

project to achieve the target of producing one million

kg muga by 2026.

I propose to develop nurseries and host plantations

in 500 hectres in Government lands, 2000 hectres in

degraded forest area and 8000 hectres in private

individuals’ lands during 2017-18. In addition, we will

work with basic seed producers from traditional

families, weavers and local entrepreneurs. Further,

the youth who are interested in this area and

graduates from NIFT and such other institutions will

be made partners in marketing. The serious

entrepreneurs and active NGOs working in this sector

will also be roped in.

For this purpose, I propose to allocate Rs.100.00 crore

in my budget.

67.11 Zero Interest On Crop Loans

Financial inclusion is the heart of several programs of

our Government. The low-level of Credit-Deposit Ratio

in Assam leaves a great scope for expansion of credit

flow to the rural areas particularly to the farmers.

Our Government is exploring innovative ways to

increase the credit flow. To encourage the uptake of

credit by our farmers, we propose to introduce “Zero

Interest Crop Loans” by giving 100% interest

subventions on agricultural loans taken by farmers of

Assam upto Rs. 1.00 lakh.

Perhaps we are the first state in the country to take

such a transformative intervention to drive agricultural

loans. I strongly believe that this will encourage our

farmers to avail loans for agricultural purposes and

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help the rural economy. For this purpose, I have

allocated Rs. 25 Crores in my budget for 2017-18.

67.12 Financial Incentives For Farmers Using Kisan

Credit Cards (KCC)

As per bank records, over 9.60 lakh Kisan Credit Cards

were issued in Assam. However, active cards are just

a little over 1.34 Lakhs. As the data shows, over 80%

of the KCC cards are inactive which is indicative of

the fact that the credit flow from the banks to the

farmers is not commensurate with the number of KCC

holders.

As KCC’s are intrinsically linked to the growth of the

agricultural sector, it is important that we revive these

inactive cards so that there are strong credit flows in

the market. I am looking for creating a positive

situation in the field by giving an incentive to the KCC

holding farmers which will prompt the Banks to give

more credit.

To activate these inactive KCC’s, our Government

proposes to introduce a one-time cash incentive of

Rs. 3000 per inactive KCC holding farmer if he renews

the Card. A detailed guideline will be issued for this

purpose. I propose to allot Rs. 65 Crores in my budget

for 2017-18.

67.13 Converison Of 1000 Timber Bridges Into RCC

Bridges And Construction Of Rail Over Bridges

Sir, as you are aware connectivity is a major challenge

in the rural areas of Assam and many a life is put at

risk while crossing the many timber bridges that

connect Rural Assam. Our Government intends to

convert 1000 of these timber bridges into permanent

RCC bridges this year and for this purpose I allocate

Rs. 100 crores in the current budget.

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While we need more Railway lines in order to improve

connectivity, unhindered movement of road transport

over the railway bridges, in case the busy roads is

also required to be addressed. For this purpose, we

will provide Rail Over-Bridges (ROB) in the State.

Sir, it is heatening to note that since Independece,

for the first time, our State got a place in the Ministry

of Railways with our senior leader and Hon’ble MP,

Shri Rajen Gohain, joining as Minister of State for

Railways. We are really grateful to Hon’ble Prime

Minister for giving this huge opportunity to Assam

and it demonstrates his love and affection towards

Assam.

With the active support and help from Shri Rajen

Gohain, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Railways

and after detailed consultations with the officials of

Indian Railways, we have identified 48 places in the

State where ROBs can be constructed with 50% state

share.

While we are committed to cover these bridges over a

period of time, I propose to initiate the works related

to 10 ROBs in the year 2017-18 at the following place:

1) Barpeta Road – Sorbhog

2) Kaithalkuchi – Nalbari

3) New Guwahati – Panikhaiti

4) Jagiroad Yard

5) Dhalpukhuri – Lanka

6) Lumding Yard

7) Tinsukia Yard

8) Bhalukmara – Jorhat Town

9) Naharkatia – Duliajan

10) Basugaon – Dangtal

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Accordingly, I propose to allocate Rs. 50 crores for

this purpose so that the works can be taken either by

Railways or PWD(R) as per the feasibility and at

mutual convenience.

67.14 Tea Garden Workers Financial Inclusion

Even after 70 years of Independence, majority of the

Tea Garden Workers are still left out of the mainstream

banking system and are caught in the ‘weekly cash

cycle’. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji’s historic

decision to demonetize gave us an opportunity to break

this ‘weekly cash cycle’ and bring the banking system

to the doorsteps of the Tea Gardens.

In the last couple of months, we have opened over

6.50 Lakh number of bank accounts for tea garden

workers and this has strengthened our resolve further

to improve their financial inclusion.

To drive the Financial Inclusion of Tea Garden workers

further, I propose to pay Rs 5000/- to each tea garden

worker in his or her bank account. Initially, Rs. 2500/-

to each workers who have opened bank account and

subsequently another Rs 2500/- will be paid to them

if the wages are received through the Bank account

continuously for six months.

I have provided Rs 287 crore in the budget for 2017-18.

67.15 HOUSING FOR ALL (URBAN)

We have taken up steps for large scale construction of

houses in urban areas under the National Flagship

Programme, "Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Housing

for All" and eight towns viz. Guwahati, Nagaon, Silchar,

Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Kokrajhar and Dhubri

are being covered as per the guidelines of the Central

Government.

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In order to help the poor and the homeless, our

Government has decided to give a subsidy of Rs 50,000

to each beneficiary in addition to the other benefits

already provided by the Ministry of Housing and Urban

Development. For this purpose, I have allotted Rs. 100

crore in this budget.

67.16 Wage Compensation For Pregnant, Temporary

Workers Of Tea-Gardens

One special group we are extremely concerned about

is the pregnant women in Tea garden areas who work

through their pregnancy until full term, thereby

compromising their health and also of their unborn

children.

For better health and nutrition, we are announcing a

onetime payment of Rupees 12,000 to each pregnant

woman of garden areas so that she can better look

after herself and her unborn baby without

compromising the livelihood of her family.

We are hopeful to bring down high MMR and IMR of

garden, through these interventions.

67.17 Deen Dayal Divyang Sahajya Achani

Hon’ble Speaker Sir, we are a sensitive lot. We are

concerned with the welfare of our people. We would

like to deal with them with an approach, which is

out an out human, as preached and propagated by

our elders and leaders. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya

is one such name that readily comes to my mind

when it comes to humanism. I recall the life message

of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhaya Ji and his unique

concept of “Integral humanism” and the importance

that he accorded to the economic progress of every

human being are philosophies par excellence. We

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take inspiration from this great person. Our

Government is committed to place welfare of the poor

at the centre of our thoughts.

As part of our mission to reinvent the Social Welfare

Department, we would like to introduce some schemes

with a humanistic approach. By calling the physically

challenged persons as “Divyangs”, Hon’’ble Prime

Minister put the agenda of this “neglected” section of

the society into “priviledged” category. In the above

background, our Government proposes to provide Rs.

5000 for medical treatment of each of 4,50,000

Divyangs in the State. We wish to dedicate the Scheme

to Pandit Deendayal Upadhaya by naming this flagship

Welfare Programme as “Deen Dayal Divyang Sahajya

Achani”. Accordingly, I allocate Rs. 250 crore in the

current budget. Indeed, any additional amount to be

required for the Scheme will be provided in due course

of the year.

67.18 Setting Up Pravasi Asomiya Department

Sir, we are all aware that substantial number of

Assamese people settled in various countries up to

second and third generations and are keen to connect

to their roots in the State.

We also hear from such well-wishers that we do not

have any suitable platform in Assam to facilitate

interaction with the Government and other

stakeholders. Some of the Non-Resident Assamese

would also like to contribute to the trade, business

and different walks of life. Our Government therefore

proposes to set up a new Department namely, Pravasi

Asomiya Department very soon.

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HOME & POLITICAL DEPARTMENT : GUARDING

ASSAM

68. I mentioned in my last budget speech that, Police is

the face of the Government for ‘Parivartan’. On these

lines, the department has taken series of initiatives

to positively change the Police-Public interface. I had

announced Mission MOITRI in my last budget, a

Thana based system reform programme, to create a

sensitive and responsive Police force. 62 Thanas will

be brought under the ambit of the MOITRI Scheme. I

proposed to allocate an amount of Rs.125.00 Cr in

this budget.

69. In the last budget, I had announced recruitment of

more than 4000 Police personnel, 3980 policemen

including 346 Sub-Inspectors. The process of

recruitment is going on. It is proposed to recruit

another 5013 personnel, which includes 17 SIs, 154

UBCs and 3455 ABCs against new vacancies. As such

total new recruitment will be 8993. Further, in order

to reduce the dependency on CAPF (Central Armed

Police Forces) for law and order duties it is proposed

to raise 2 (Two) nos. of new IR Battalions. The Police

Training College in Dergaon will be upgraded as

Assam Police Academy at par with global standards.

70. In order to make our police force mobile, responsive

and tech-savvy, it has been decided to introduce

E-Challan system in 2017-18 in Kamrup (Metro)

and 10 other Districts.

71. Last year, we had announced a project on

establishment of Traffic Signal System across 99 in

Urban Centres in Assam. The implementation of the

Project is in advance Stage. In the current financial

year, an amount of Rs. 5.00 crore for the scheme will

be provided.

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72. Assam is a frontline state in realizing the dream of

Digital India and cash-less economy. As economic

transactions will move more towards digital platform

our government is sensitised towards the need of

building and upgrading its digital investigation and

forensic capabilities to check any form of digital

offences. There is a need to build a quality intelligence

network which would ensure minimal use of force.

Even Chanakya mentions that only those societies

which had the most effective intelligence network were

considered to be the most secured. Keeping this in

mind, our Government is investing in creating Cyber

Dome project which would increase the technical

intelligence gathering capabilities of the state using

cutting edge technology and trained manpower. It will

also include cyber security, cyber forensics and social

media monitoring cell. A budgetary provision of

Rs.2.00 crore is proposed for the financial year 2017-

18 for the same.

73. We can never forget the ultimate sacrifice that our

security personnel make on the altar of duty while

fighting insurgency and crime maintaining law and

order. The great poetess Saroj Rani Jha in her famous

poem “Sipahi ka Adarsh” says

¡ª ÷Í‹ ¬⁄ ◊È¤Ê ∞∑§ ’‚,

‚flÊ œ◊¸ ÁŸ÷ÊŸÊ „Ò–

Á¡‚∑§Ë „Ò ÿ„ Œ„ ©‚Ë ◊¥,

ß‚ Á◊‹Ê Á◊≈ ¡ÊŸÊ „Ò–

In a bid to perpetuate the hallowed memory of their

saga of gallantry, valour and ultimate sacrifice, our

Government will build a Police Memorial in

Guwahati.

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74. Our Government is conscious about the need to bring

more than 16,000 surrendered militant and those who

have come to ceasefire to the mainstream with proper

rehabilitation measures to that they can be a source

of inspiration to their colleagues who are in the

jungles. With this aim in view, the Government will

take steps for skill development of entrepreneurship

with concomitant wherewithal so that they can lead a

life full of dignity and can channelize their energies

to the nation building process.

75. Government also proposes to establish a Police Sub-

Division at Umrangso considering the anticipated rapid

growth of this area.

76. Forensics is another important area in the criminal

justice system and internal security. A complete

revamp of the infrastructure and equipment for

Forensic Science Laboratory has also been proposed.

For this purpose, an amount of Rs.2.00 crore has been

proposed in this budget.

77. The Fire & Emergency Services is also proposed to

be strengthened by operationalizing 36 new Fire

Service Stations notified by the Government and 6

new stations as recommended by DRSC. This will

substantially augment the existing number of 124

Fire & Emergency Services stations and reduce the

response time as well as increase coverage. We will

enhance pocket money for VDP in the year 2017-18.

Updation of NRC (National Register of Citizens)

78. Updating of National Register of Citizens (NRC)

continues to be top most priority of the government.

The ongoing process of verification of documents and

family tree is progressing steadily. The Government

constituted a Sub-Committee recently on NRC

consisting of senior officers to assist the NRC State

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Co-ordinator in matters which require certain policy

decision stressed upon the correct preparation of Draft

NRC by way of causing proper verification of the

documents submitted. State Government is closely

co-ordinating with Registrar General of India (RGI)

for expeditious completion of the exercise and we shall

also take up with Government of India to streamline

the fund flow directly from the RGI to State Co-

coordinator.

BORDER AREAS DEPARTMENT : PROTECTING

OUR LAND, OUR BORDERS, OUR TOMORROW

79. Hon’ble Members of this august House are quite aware

about the sincerity and novel approach of our

Government as far as border areas of the State

concerned. Our Hon’ble Chief Minister initiated a

unique programme by organizing team visits of Hon’ble

members of this House along with senior most officers

of the State Government to every part of the

International Borders of the State to gauze the

challenges and opportunities for development of the

State.

80. Secondly, the development trust of our government

in the border areas is crystal clear through our decision

to rename the ‘Border Areas Department as “Border

Protection and Development Department”.

81. In view of active role taken up by us, the border areas

are witnessing a spurt of developmental works started

by Government of India and State Government in these

areas. In the Indo-Bhutan international border,

Ministry of Home Affairs has approved to construct a

road at a project outlay of Rs.1259 crores covering

313 KM from Ghamduar near Assam West Bengal

Border in Kokrajhar district to Shikaridanga in

Udalguri district. Ministry of Home Affairs has already

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released Rs.9.88 crores to PWD (NH) for preparation

of the DPR.

82. Another important achievement was that the long

pending land dispute in Lathitila-Dumabari has been

resolved and border pillars erected. We are very

hopeful that with the vision of our Chief Minister and

support of Government of India, we will be able to not

only protect the border but also ensure proper

development of the border areas.

AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT: GROUNDWORKS

FOR PROSPERITY LAID

83. I have already announced in my speech a series of

measures including zero- interest crop loans to

farmers, financial incentives for farmers using Kishan

Credit Card, interest subsidy to farmers on agriculture

machinery and equipments etc.

84. Last year, I spoke about providing Identity Cards to

the farmers. In this regard I am happy to state that

this process is at advanced stage and Identity Cards

will be issued to all farmers in the State within the

fiscal year 2017-18.

85. In tune with the dream of Hon’ble Prime Minister for

‘Harkhet Me Pani’ , we have prepared District Irrigation

Plan, Annual Action Plan for Irrigation and also State

Irrigation Plan. It will help us to develop Irrigation

facilities for the State in a holistic manner.

86. Further continuing above mission to increase the area

under Irrigation, 61,000 Shallow Tubewells will be

installed under NABARD programme which were

sanctioned as part of the last tranche. I am proposing

for another 39,000 Shallow Tubewells in 2017-18.

87. It is our dream to make the name of Majuli as Assam’s

trade mark of organic products in the name of

“O’Majuli” so that Majuli will be known as World’s

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popular organic brand in addition to its current status

of World’s largest Riverine Island.

IRRIGATION DEPARTMENT : UNLEASHING THE

POTENTIAL

88. One of the most critical inputs for growth of Agriculture

is Irrigation. Though State Government has so far

created 7.89 lakhs hectares of Irrigation potential, we

have a long way to go in this sector. Accordingly, in

order to develop capacity to irrigate additional 81,188

hectares of land, we plan to complete 200 small

irrigation schemes presently in progress.

89. Under CAD and WM programme, we will create 28640

hectors of Irrigation potential by undertaking four

more Schemes in the year 2017-18.

90. We shall also undertake Irrigation Schemes through

Deep Tubewells (DT) to be powered by Solar Energy

under Signature Project and for this purpose I allocate

Rs. 1000 lakhs in the current budget.

91. In this regard I would like to inform the Hon’ble

Members that Union Government in its budget

presented on 1-2-2017 announced setting up of Long

Term Irrigation fund with an additional corpus of Rs.

20,000 crores in NABARD. Our Government would

make serious efforts to access these funds for large

scale development of irrigation facilities in the State.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND VETERINARY: ADDING

TO THE FARMERS’ INCOME

92. Recognising the potential of the Animal Husbandry

& Dairy Sector, considerable efforts have been made

in this budget for the improvement of the sector. Some

of the actions which are being proposed to be taken

up are as follows. Breed upgradation of the nondescript

cattle population of the state will get top most priority.

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At present 97% of the cattle population of the state is

of nondescript type with very low capacity of producing

milk and meat. The Dept. has already developed a

Frozen Semen Bull Station having A-Grade

certification capable of producing about 6.00 Lakh

dozens of Bovine Semen Straws per year. Steps will

be taken to ensure that these are fully utilized for

artificial insemination so that better quality progeny

is developed for better yield.

93. Emphasis will be given on organising large number of

Dairy Co-operative Societies for organised milk

production. Financial assistance from the World Bank

assisted APART project will also be pulled in for the

development of both organised and unorganised dairy

farmers.

94. To boost up the Animal Husbandary, Veterinary and

Dairy Sector in the State, I propose to bifurcate Jorhat

Agricultural University and set up a new Veterinary

& Life Sciences University. All Dairy and Veterinary

Institutes of the State will come under this new

University. Necessary bill in this regard will be moved

during the course of the year.

95. I also propose to set up a Dairy Science College under

the proposed University of Veterinary & Life Sciences

at Sarbhog, Barpeta. This will open up great

opportunities for the youth of the North Eastern States

and will contribute towards enhanced production of

milk and milk products in the State through research

activities. A road map cum vision document will also

be prepared in this regard by engaging consultants,

if necessary. Similarly, new projects for manufacturing

fodder blocks for use by dairy farmers to feed their

cattle during the lean season and also during floods

will be taken up.

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96. To supplement the proposed activities, much stress

has been given in this budget towards animal health.

Vaccination programmes against the Foot & Mouth

disease and other diseases of this kind will be taken

up in a comprehensive manner. Insurance of cattle

population of the State will also get top priority.

FISHERY : SELF-SUFFICIENCY IS THE TARGET

97. With its vast water resources in the form of ponds and

tanks, wetlands, low-lying areas and water bodies that

hold great potential for fish production, Assam’s

fishery sector can play a very important role in the

economic development, generating employment

opportunities for rural youth besides providing food

and nutritional security to the people of the State.

98. A while ago, I had spoken about the conservation and

protection of indigenous fish. Besides in order to

facilitate easy access to quality fish seed for fish

farmers, the Fishery department will implement a ‘Fish

Seed Bank’ Project. For this purpose, new ponds of

22 hectares in size will be created. A model farm of

integrated fish-pig farming will be taken up in Majuli

on 10 hectare area.

99. Under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF),

we propose to construct 1000 hectares of new Fish

Ponds, 430 hectares of village community tanks and

four fish markets.

100. We understand that sustained extension service is

critical for promoting fish production and as such a

mass campaign is required to increase the fishery

production. Our Government proposes to launch a

special programme called “Matsya Jagaran – Ghore

Ghore Pukhuri Ghore Ghore Maachh” in a campaign

mode.

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101. In total, I have allotted Rs.155.58 crore to Fishery

Department in my budget for 2017-18 for taking up

various developmental programmes.

SOIL CONSERVATION: CONSERVE THE

DEGRADED FOR ALL-ROUND DEVELOPMENT

102. The major activities of the Department are Gully

Control, Land Development, Nature Conservation,

Cash Crop Development, Soil and Moisture

Conservation, Waste Land Development and

Watershed Development.

103. For the Financial Year 2017-18 an amount of Rs.

1139.11 Lakh have been allocated out of which for

SOPD- Rs. 780.00 Lakh, IWMP- 611.11 Lakh and for

RIDF- Rs. 4500.00 Lakh. Out of the fund allocated

under SOPD our Government has proposed to take

up Land Capability Classification mapping for the

entire State with a financial outlay of Rs. 50.00 Lakh

with the assistance of North Eastern Space Application

Center (NESAC), Shillong. Our Government has also

proposed to take up effective measures for protection

of riverine land at Majuli with a financial involvement

of Rs. 50.00 Lakh. Besides, our Government has

proposed two schemes under Signature Project during

2017-18 which are mitigation of Flash Flood in the

flood prone area of Guwahati city with a financial target

of Rs 4000.00 Lakh. After completion of the project it

is expected that a sizable amount of silt deposition in

the drainage and other outlet will be reduced which

in turn will reduce the Flash Flood in the city alongwith

a scheme for wetland development project at Bongaon,

Chamoria, Nazira, Sarukhetri, Roha, Morangi, with a

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financial target of Rs.1186.82 Lakh for irrigating the

cultivable fields and also for restoration of ecological

balance.

HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE: JOURNEY

CONTINUES FOR LARGER COVERAGE WITH

QUALITY

104. Now I come to the Health Sector. In my Budget speech

last year, we had articulated very clearly that our

Government places a huge premium on health as one

of our main focus areas. We have thus embarked on a

journey – a journey full of aspirations and

expectations, of “parivartan”- of a developed Assam,

where children live to grow up to their fullest potential,

our youth are skilled and gainfully employed, and

our revered elders are well taken care of. And to deliver

on these goals, we need, each of our citizens to enjoy

a healthy mind with a healthy body. Last year, on the

floor of this August Assembly, we had made some

announcements as a first few steps on this journey of

transformation in this sector. We still have a long way

to go but I would like to take this opportunity to apprise

the Hon’ble members of what we have achieved so far

in the short span of 7/8 months, and our roadmap

for the coming year and beyond.

I would like to focus your attention on a few critical

areas of our work :

MEETING THE RESOURCE AND MANPOWER GAP:

105.1 Health care Infrastructure :

Last year, we had taken up an ambitious plan of

reviving our District Hospitals and building new

District and model hospitals. I am happy to share that

we have started the up-gradation works of 5 (five) Sub

Divisional Civil Hospital to District Hospital at

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Biswanath Chariali, Sonari, Hatsingimari, Hamren,

Garmur (Majuli) and we have approved one new

District Hospital at Hojai.

Further a total of 116 Model Hospitals have been

approved to be set up across the state; out of these,

construction of 79 has been completed. Besides,

altogether 62 Model Hospitals have been made

functional with OPD, Delivery and Laboratory facilities.

I am happy to inform the Honble Members that the

Essential Drugs List, the basis for provision medicines

in our hospitals, has been revised upwards, from the

existing 200 to 407 drugs. Such a move will benefit

scores of patients including some requiring critical

care.

We have taken another initiative to make the

medicines available at affordable costs. One such

pharmacy at GMCH, Guwahati is already functional.

Very soon, AMRIT Pharmacies will start functioning

in all the medical colleges and the district hospitals

of the State.

105.2 Cancer Hospital :

Hon’ble Members, last year, we had taken up a very

important task upon ourselves: of making our Cancer

Hospital at GMCH truly functional. I am happy to share

that we have achieved important milestones. The PET-

CT, is now functional. In the meantime, we have taken

up with the Government of India for assistance in

making this Cancer Hospital one of the best equipped

in its category in the country so that our people do

not have to go far and wide for cancer treatment. I

propose to install PET-MRI in the Cancer Hospital in

the coming financial year with an estimated cost of

Rs. 50 crore. This will be the first of its kind in the

government sector. I am happy to share that our

Cancer Hospital is likely to be declared State Cancer

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Institute, and in the process, is likely to receive a sumof Rs. 108 crore from Government of India. The StateGovernment will have to provide a matching grant of

Rs. 12 crore which I propose to provide.

105.3 Medical Education :

Now I come to the important issue of Medical

Education which is at the heart of our initiative to

provide quality and reliable healthcare to all. We have

delivered on our promise to establish new Medical

Colleges at Nagaon, Dhubri and North Lakhimpur.

Land has been identified in these places, and

architectural plans and estimates have been approved.

The tender process for allotting the works will be

finalized soon. We are confident construction work

on these three medical colleges will commence within

the next 45 days.

In the next financial year, we will start construction

for establishment of a medical college at Kokrajhar.

Further, Hon’ble members will be happy to note that

the building works of Diphu Medical College has made

good progress. Hopefully, we will be able to inaugurate

this landmark medical college sometime later this

year. This will be a very meaningful development in

an area of Assam which has lagged behind in terms

of access to good health care.

We propose to start two new medical colleges at

Tinsukia and Nalbari. This will fulfil the long pending

demand of the people of these two districts of Upper

and Lower Assam respectively. I propose to start a

new Department of Sports Medicine in Guwahati

Medical College Hospital.

Speaker Sir, in our state, there is perennial shortage

of doctors. Often they have to travel outside the State

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for medical treatment. In this backdrop, I have a dream:

a dream of producing 1200 doctors annually within

the State. The dream is to establish one medical college

in each of the original districts of the State.

We have traversed on this important journey. We had

only 3 medical colleges till about a decade back. We

added 3 more, with the coming together of medical

colleges at Jorhat, Barpeta and Tezpur. Diphu Medical

College will come up this year. We are in the process

of starting the work of 3 more, at Lakimpur, Dhubri

and Nagaon. Works of Kokrajhar medical college will

start soon. With these two Medical Colleges at Tinsukia

and Nalbari, the dream target producing 1200 doctors

will be realized. Speaker Sir, I consider myself

fortunate to be part of this journey since day one. It is

like dream coming true.

We also propose to increase the reservation of OBC

candidates in MBBS and other courses from the

current 15% to 29%.

105.4 Assam as a Natural Nursing Hub

The Nursing staff are an integral and critical part of

our healthcare services. Our aim is to produce 5000

nurses in a phased manner annually by expansion

and upgradation of training colleges and schools in

the Government and private sector. We also propose

to equip these nurses with necessary IT, language and

soft skills for better employability. We want to make

Assam the biggest hub for Nursing which should open

up employment opportunities for thousands of our

young, educated girls and boys nationally and

internationally.

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INNOVATIVE SCHEMES TO IMPROVE ACCESS

AND QUALITY OF SERVICES

105.5 Atal Amrit Abhiyan :

In my last budget speech I had announced our

Government’s decision to implement a Health

Assurance Scheme named “Atal Amrit Abhiyan” which

covers select, high cost, critical care procedures in 6

disease groups: cardiac, kidney, cancer, neurological

conditions, neo natal diseases and burns covering

individuals in BPL and APL families upto an annual

income of Rs 5 lakhs. This would be a unique,

completely cashless programme covering upto 90% of

our population.

A dedicated society is being formed to implement this

scheme and the roll out of this programme is

imminent, with enrolment process to start soon across

the state. Each adult individual will be given a card

with a unique family identification number. Every

individual from eligible families will be entitled to Rs

2 lakhs worth of treatment costs per year for any

procedure on the approved list, which will be paid

directly to the empaneled hospitals within Assam or

in any of the selected cities elsewhere in India.

In the interim period till the health cards are issued,

applications are being accepted at all district HQs for

providing benefits under the scheme on

reimbursement basis. In this budget, I am allocating

Rupees 100 crores for the successful implementation

of this project in this budget.

105.6 Chief Minister’s Free Diagnostics Scheme :

We are finalizing the blueprint of the Government of

Assam scheme named Mukhyamatri’s Free Diagnostic

Scheme– which includes laboratory facility, X-Ray and

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CT-Scan free of cost. This will be launched sometime

soon.

105.7 Samarth Aaasm :

We have 45 lakhs children between 0 to 6 years, out

of a total population of about 3.12 crores. Assam has

the dubious distinction of having one of the highest

infant mortality rates in India, at 47 per 1000 live

births. A significant proportion of our infant deaths

are due to serious birth defects which need urgent

medical and surgical attention. Besides these, there

is a large child population suffering from serious, often

life threatening illnesses. Untreated and incompletely

treated childhood disorders and birth defects lead to

permanent disability and premature deaths.

There have been efforts to improve children health

services in the past. However, we have failed to

conceptualize a comprehensive health programme on

children taking care of them from pre-natal to up to 6

years and beyond. We plan to put Our future – Children

First and address most of these important issues in a

phased manner and our first step is Samarth Assam:

right from ensuring screening procedures for detection

of birth defects to establishment of a robust database

with Birth Defects Registry, to proper treatment and

follow ups.

It is also our Government’s commitment that a

Children’s Hospital will be established In Guwahati.

The blueprint of this hospital will be on the lines of

the best in class facilities. We realise that it is a huge

challenge in terms of resources and manpower, but if

we never aspire to be the best we will never achieve

anything worthwhile. This hospital will have a state of

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the art NICU, PICU, trauma center, paediatric

specialties, special needs units like speech therapy

and learning disabilities unit and child psychology.

Today I seek this Honourable Assembly and the

people of Assam’s blessings such that we can make

this initiative a grand success.

105.8 Employees Health Assurance Scheme :

The Government of Assam has been in dialogue with

its employees to institute a healthcare scheme that is

user friendly, and meets their needs satisfactorily. We

therefore propose to start within the next financial

year a scheme which will be smart card based and

cashless at the point of care.

105.9 Population and Reproductive Health Policy :

Last budget, I had announced the Government’s

decision to come out with a population policy. A

committee was constituted to come up with the

contours of such a policy and the committee has

submitted its recommendations which include a set

of incentives and disincentives. I will place the first

draft of the Policy before this August House in this

session itself.

105.10 Healthcare initiatives for Tea Garden Workers :

In 2016, we had announced a special scheme for tea

gardens which will have far reaching positive influence

in the health outcomes of those brothers and sisters

living in Assam’s Tea gardens. We had analyzed the

details of the health scenario of each of our Tea

gardens. Hon’ble members will be surprised to know

that , out of 758 surveyed Tea gardens, 428 (57%)

only have functional Hospital in their premises and

247 (38%) Tea gardens do not even have Medical

officers. Considering the pathetic situation of health

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services delivery and health outcomes in garden areas,

the Health and Family Welfare Deptt. has initiated

an outcome oriented interventions. Although, initially

we announced the institution of 40 dedicated Mobile

Medical Units (MMU), the August house shall be

happy to note that, we are coming up with 80 MMUs

only for tea garden areas in this current year itself.

This work has already started under PPP mode. The

agency has started working in this initiative with a

target to commission the first MMUs within March

2017. During 2017-18 we are aiming to cover 320 Tea

gardens having the poorest health infrastructure and

manpower through MMU. I am happy to declare that

these MMUs shall have doctors, GNMs, Pharmacist,

Lab Technician. Besides, 150 Tea garden are being

covered under PPP mode by our Department and is

being provided with Rs 7.5 lakh each for gap financing

the deficit in infrastructure, HR and consumables.

One special group we are extremely concerned about

are the pregnant women in Tea garden areas who work

through their pregnancy until full term, thereby

compromising their health and also of their unborn

children. For better health and nutrition, we are

announcing a onetime payment of Rupees 12,000 to

each pregnant women of garden areas so that she

can better look after herself and her unborn baby

without compromising the livelihood of her family. We

are hopeful to bring down high MMR and IMR of

garden, through these interventions. To encourage

our tea garden brethren to join the medical profession,

we have a provision of reservation of 8 seats, at the

MBBS level, in the medical colleges of our State. We

propose to increase this number to 18 seats from this

year.

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105.11 Dialysis services :

Further, with incidence of Diabetes and other lifestyle

diseases on the rise amongst us, commensurately a

large number of patients now come in with End Stage

Renal Disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis. High cost of

dialysis makes it prohibitive for most patients and their

families. Moreover, dialysis services are not available

in most districts in our State. We therefore propose to

provide dialysis services in all district hospitals from

the early part of next financial year by entering into

Public Private Partnerships.

105.12 AIDS victims- Children Care Home :

AIDS is a dreaded disease. Many of our young lives

have been lost at the hands of this disease. Speaker

Sir, the biggest victims, however, in the entire gamut

are spouses and children of the deceased. Many a

times, there are orphans, who have lost both their

parents, looking for some care, some support. We had

started one initiative at Guwahati. We would like to

start three more centres to house such children. We

propose to provide all infrastructures and support

facilities for their upbringing with care and sensitivity.

Honble Members, I feel that these are the real essence

of the divine concepts of Seva and Samvedana.

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT :

106. Elementary Education Department: Reaching the

unreached with quality :

A large number of initiatives have been taken to

expand the Elementary Education system since

independence and especially after the National

Education Policy 1986 came into existence. After

implementation the RTE Act, 2009 as notified by the

Govt. of India, various initiatives have been taken in

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the spirit of the Act. To improve the standard and

quality of elementary education in the State, I propose

to take a number of new initiatives in addition to the

continuation of existing schemes:

106.1 Speaker Sir, we have around 47000 elementary

schools in the State. Some of these schools are

located in the same periphery, the distance being

barely 1 kilometre between two schools. The

enrolment of students, as a result, is low. It is

observed that pooling of resources, especially that

of teachers and other support infrastructures would

result in their better utilisation and the maintenance

of the ideal teacher-pupil ratio, as mandated under

the Right to Education Act. This would also make

our schools vibrant, full of activities, and result in

better learning outcomes. The physical

infrastructure of these left out schools would also

be put to good use, through the active involvement

of the community and village elders. We propose to

issue suitable guidelines in this regard shortly.

106.2 Implementation of Guna Utsav programme, the

biggest quality enhancement programme the State

Government has undertaken so far. I propose to

allocate a sum of Rs. 10 crore for implementing

this programme.

106.3 As per the announcement of the Hon’ble Chief

Minister, we propose to provide the photograph of

Lachit Borphukan in all schools.

106.4 Providing infrastructure development of all

Elementary Schools with Desk-Bench, Table-Chair

for teachers, Office almirah, Green board with

teachers photograph in all schools. I propose to allot

a sum of Rs. 60 crore for this scheme in this budget.

We will continue with the CM Scholarship Scheme,

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for which an amount of Rs. 40 crore is being

earmarked.

106.5 Several concerns converge on the issue of using

local language or mother tongue in formal

education. With increased globalization, one view

that is often put forward is that the students must

be proficient in international and regional languages

for better employability. However, research clearly

shows that using the learners’ mother tongue is

crucial to effective learning. We subscribe to this

view. This is important from the perspective of

preservation of our linguistic & cultural heritage as

well. We want to bring appropriate legislation to

the effect that students of the State must be

taught one local language as reflected in the 8th

Schedule of the Constitution of India by all

schools – public, government, private – up to

Class 8.

106.6 Hon’ble Members must be aware that in my last

Budget speech I had informed this August House

about my commitment to regularize the services of

all TET pass candidates presently working on

contractual basis under SSA in a phased manner.

Accordingly, we have already regularized 7000

teachers on merit. I am happy to inform this August

House that, before 31 March 2017, we will

regularize the services of another 11000 such

teachers. I commit to recruit an additional 10000

teachers with TET qualifications in the years ahead,

taking the total to 28000 such teachers across the

state.

106.7 I am also happy to announce that the Government

of India has accorded approval for the establishment

of DIETs at Baska, Udalguri, Chirang and Kamrup

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Metropolitan districts along with three new College

of Teachers Education in the districts of Bongaigaon,

Karbi Anglong and Majuli. The construction works

will start during the next financial year.

SECONDARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT:

EQUIPPING IS THE KEY

107.1 Speaker Sir, our students are the future of our

State, our country. To quote the Father of our Nation,

Mahatma Gandhi, “Education is the all-round

drawing out of the best in child and man – body,

mind and spirit.” Our Government is committed to

offer the best possible effort towards motivating the

students for their all-round development i.e.

physical, mental, spiritual well-being.

107.2 Government has initiated a series of ambitious

programmes to improve the quality of Secondary

Education segment. ‘AAROHAN’, is one such

initiative, for the identification of talented students

from the remote, rural and poor families for the

mentoring and monitoring of their academic career.

A web portal on ‘Aarohan’ has also been developed

and launched.

107.3 On the issue of provincialisation of schools, I assure

this august House that a new Bill will be brought

out soon in this direction for provincializing

deserving & eligible Elementary, Secondary, Higher

Education Institutions, Madrassas and Sanskrit tols

etc., keeping in mind the observations of the

Hon’ble High Court as well, after safeguarding the

provisions of RTE Act 2009 and other relevant legal

provisions. However, before coming out with the new

Bill, we propose to bring a white paper on the

subject.

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107.4 Hon’ble Speaker, it is our bounden duty to look

after the students belonging to the underprivileged

and the poor strata of the society. We firmly stand

for reducing the school dropout rates besides

ensuring free, equal access to education for all. We

have already provided free admission for students

in Class XI in all Higher Secondary Schools and

Colleges this year. We propose to continue this

endeavour and earmark an amount of Rs. 10 crores

for this purpose.

107.5 During the current financial year, we had provided

free text books to the students of Class-IX & X.

This scheme will be extended to the next year too,

with the provision of Free Textbooks for the students

of Class XI & XII, studying in Govt./Provincialised

Higher Secondary Schools/Junior Colleges and

Colleges, in five core subjects. A fund of Rs. 45 crores

is being earmarked for this purpose in this budget.

107.6 We had waived examination fees for poor students

appearing in HSLC and HSSLC examinations. This

scheme will continue in the next financial year too,

on an extended scale. From next year onwards, in

addition to the Examination fees, centre fees will

also be waived for the poor students. I have kept a

budget provision of Rs. 35 Crores for this purpose.

107.7 As announced in the last budget, under the

“Anundoram Borooah Cash or Laptop Award

Scheme”, laptops and cash award will be provided

to students who secure ‘Star marks’ in the HSLC

and High Madrassa Examinations.

107.8 Hon’ble Speaker Sir, as far as the education scene

is concerned, tea gardens present a dismal picture,

even after 70 years of Independence. Due to limited

high schools in the tea garden areas, a large

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number of students leave schools midway. In order

to facilitate the completion of school education and

to reduce the dropout rates, Government has

decided to establish 100 new schools in these areas

by upgrading existing LP and UP schools to High

Schools up to Class-X in a PPP mode with

experienced non-government societies. For this

scheme, I propose a provision of Rs 10 Cr in this

budget.

107.9 Hon’ble Members, the quality of education in some

of our educationally backward areas remain a matter

of concern. The main reason behind this is the lack

of skilled teachers. Therefore, we propose to

introduce Tele-Education through Virtual

Classrooms at a budgetary support of Rs 10.00 Cr.

The primary objective of this scheme is to inculcate

concept based learning by way of interaction

through Satellite System covering the core subjects

of English, Science, & Mathematics from Class-VI-

X. With the introduction of this innovative teaching

learning process, both the teacher and pupils will

be benefited.

107.10Speaker Sir, we propose to waive school

affiliation fees. We are also contemplating

centralized payment of electricity bills of schools.

Government will provide a fund of Rs 50,000/- per

annum to each school through the Rashtriya

Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan, Assam. In addition to

this, from this year onwards, Govt. will provide an

average of Rs 25000/- per annum to each school.

We are also thinking to pay the electricity bills

centrally for which I have provided Rs. 15 crore.

Further, if the students get this relief, the

expenditure of the school will be reduced and the

guardians will not be burdened with this cost.

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However, the school management may take lowest

possible fee from the students for festivals etc.

107.11 Hon’ble Members, provision for construction of

boundary walls in the examination centres of

HSSLC/HSLC examination has been made. The

requirement on this count may be more. I request

the Hon’ble Members to provide additional support

from their untied fund for this purpose. From my

side, I have kept a budget provision of Rs. 40 crore

towards this.

107.12 Hon’ble Speaker Sir, it is important for our

students to know the cultural heritage and

traditions of our country. Most of our ancient

literature is in Sanskrit language. A good

understanding of this language, one of the oldest

in its category, is therefore required. Keeping this

in view, I propose to make education of Sanskrit

language compulsory to all students in a school

where posts of Sanskrit teachers exist. Needless to

add, all vacant posts of Sanskrit teachers will be

filled up soon.

107.13 I propose to provide two-wheelers to the top

1000 Girl students who pass Higher Secondary

Examination 2017, in the next financial year, in

order to provide easy access to them for Higher

Education. Accordingly, I propose to allocate a sum

of Rs. 5 crore in this budget.

107.14 Speaker Sir, I propose to provide financial support

of Rs.50 lakhs each for the infrastructure

development of deserving Secondary Schools which

are more than 100 years old.

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Higher Education Department : Sky is the limit

108. Hon’ble Speaker Sir, Now I come to Higher

education. Like the Elementary and the Secondary

Education, Higher Education is of vital importance.

It is a powerful tool to build knowledge-based

societies of the 21st Century. With the growing size

and diversity of the higher education sector,

particularly in terms of courses, management and

geographical coverage, it has become necessary to

lay proper emphasis on this segment of education

for shaping the future of our students.

108.1 Hon’ble Members, I have already announced the

ambitious Scheme, Tejasvi Navadhitamastu for the

development of Universities and Professional

Colleges. So I am not repeating the names of

individual institutions and the earmarked amount

again.

108.2 Speaker Sir, We have already implemented the

decision to waive fees including admission and

tuition fees for the 1st year College Students

belonging to economically backward families whose

parent’s annual income is less than Rs. 1 Lakh.

The Government reimbursed such fees to the tune

of Rs.43 crores to the Colleges during the year 2016-

17 benefiting 1,38,085 College Students. This shall

encourage more students to pursue higher studies

in the future and reduce dropout rates after higher

secondary. This year, this scheme will be extended

for the poor students taking admission in the

previous year of M.A., M.Sc, M.Com. I propose to

allocate Rs.50 crore in the budget to continue this

important initiative.

108.3 I also announce that the OBC reservation in the

Higher Educational Institutions will be increased

to 29%.

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108.4 Hon’ble Speaker Sir, I would like to quote our

Respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji

who had the following words for our Gurujana

Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva.

“Srimanta Sankardeva not only pioneered

eradication of untouchability in India, five

centuries ago but also took spiritualism to new

heights by painting it with the colours of lives

of the common man. It is unbelievable and

unthinkable that a saint-reformer launched a

mass movement five centuries ago to eradicate

untouchability and other social evils, and that

too in faraway Assam.”

Speaker Sir, in the last budget speech, as a fit

tribute to Srimanta Sankardeva, we announced a

sum of Rs. 10 crore to Srimanta Sankardeva

University over a period of three years. I am happy

to share that we have provided Rs 3.5 crores during

the current financial year. This year also, I propose

to allocate Rs 3.5 crores. To take the message of

Srimanta Sankardeva across the length and breadth

of this country, we propose to sign an MoU with

five leading Universities to establish the Sankardev

Chair at Banaras Hindu University, Jawaharlal

Nehru University, Delhi University, University of

Hyderabad and Vishwa Bharati (Shantiniketan).

108.5 The construction of 21 Polytechnics in the State is

in progress. Out of these, 11 are at an advanced

stage with procurement of laboratory equipment &

recruitment of faculty etc.

108.6 The remaining 10 Polytechnics shall be ready to

start classes and impart technical education by July

2018 session. This process has been expedited.

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108.7 At present, Assam has four Government

Engineering Colleges including Assam Engineering

College (AEC) and Jorhat Engineering College

(JEC). The other two, Bineswar Brahma Engineering

College (BBEC) and Jorhat Institute of Science &

Technology (JIST) have been converted from a

Society to a full-fledged Government Engineering

College.

108.8 Apart from the above, the works of three new

Engineering Colleges at Karimganj, Golaghat and

Dhemaji are also in full swing.

108.9 Under Rastriya Ucchatar Siksha Abhiyan (RUSA),

three more Engineering Colleges have been

proposed. The preliminary works of land allotment

and fund allocations are underway. Necessary funds

shall be allocated in consultation with the MHRD.

Since the State has a huge deficit in the production

of technically qualified manpower, there is an urgent

need to start more Engineering Colleges. Therefore,

I would like to announce two more Engineering

Colleges from the State resources. Site of these

colleges will be announced in due course after

consulting educational experts and assessing the

needs of various regions.

108.10 Five Model Degree Colleges at Dalgaon, Amjonga,

Tulungia, Eraligool and Behali will be started from

next academic session i.e. July this year. For this

purpose adequate provision has been made in

the budget.

108.11 Cotton College & Cotton College State University

will be merged and shall become one entity under

the new bill being brought in the Assembly. This

bill shall potentially resolve the problems

presently being faced by the prestigious

institution. It is hoped that this step will help it

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not only maintain its past glory and heritage but

also raise its academic excellence.

108.12 Three colleges one each in Barpeta, North

Lakhimpur and Hojai districts will be upgraded

to the University level. A Bill for the same shall

be introduced in the next session.

108.13 Speaker Sir, For infrastructure Development of

Provincialised Colleges, the Govt. has allocated

grants of Rs.1 Crore each to 33 Colleges in the

current financial year. We propose to continue

such grants during 2017-18 as well to another

40 colleges.

108.14 The Government also proposes to open a new

University of Culture at Majuli with a view to

promote Assamese Art & Culture, in other parts

of country and abroad.

108.15 Hon’ble Memebrs, The Government proposes to

initiate some preparatory works in the Jonai

Campus of Tezpur Central University. For this

purpose, I propose to allocate a sum of Rs.200.00

lakhs.

SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT : IN REFORMS

LIES THE KEY

109. Now I turn to one of the most important chapters of

today’s Budget. It is Social Welfare. This Department

deals with social up-liftment of the weaker and

downtrodden members of the society. It deals with

infants, pregnant women, widows and Divyangs. It is

but obvious that we need a sensitive hand and strong

institutional mechanism to deal with this set of special

populace. Any insensitivity or neglect is non-

negotiable in this realm. Honble Speaker Sir,

governance is a continuous process. But during the

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course of time, some Institutions of the Government

become vulnerable to social evils such as systemic

corruption dominated by vested interests. We are

aware about what happened to Social Welfare

Department in our State. Our Government is quite

sensitive to the fact that any Institution afflicted by

such evils will be reformed carefully and effectively,

so that the functioning of the department improves.

After all, Institutions are instruments for development

provided they are led honestly with sincerity of

purpose.

110. We are committed to reinvent and reorient the Social

Welfare Department. Indeed, this Department is

meant for the real welfare of our society - ranging

from infants to pregnant women, old widows to

Divyangs.

111. Another relevant point that readily comes to mind

relates to provision of adequate care for our elderly. It

is expected that the percentage of the population over

the age of 60 will continue to increase due to the

changing population age structure. Services to cater

to this increasing population of the elderly will need

to be provided not only by institutional sources but

also through familial structures. To initiate the

process, we would like provide a legislative cover

to such familial responsibilities. The employees

working in the government /government undertakings

/ State PSUs/employees of companies will be expected

to take care of their respective elderly parents in a

desirable manner. In case of non-compliance, the

proposed legislation would mandate that a certain

portion of the salary of such employees would be

deducted to be given to their respective parents. The

Social Welfare Department will bring the necessary

legislation in this regard during the course of the year.

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I think this would be a worthy tribute to our elderly

population.

112. Besides, I propose to set up two Higher Education

Institutes for Mentally retarded children in order to

provide a dedicated professional teaching to them. In

case feasible and required, reputed NGOs and trained

faculty members will also be made partners in this

divine project. For this purpose, I allocate Rs. 200 lakhs

during 2017-18.

113. Further, existing Women Homes need strengthening.

We also need to establish new hostels for working

women. I propose to set apart Rs. 800 lakhs in this

budget for this purpose.

114. Our Government is making every possible effort to

ensure that the existing Schemes of the Department

are implemented through Anganwadi Centers.

Further, as token of appreciation to the dedicated

service of Anganwadi Workers and helpers, I propose

to allocate a sum of Rs.542 Lakhs as Anganwadi

Employees Welfare Fund to provide emergency

financial assistance to them.

WELFARE OF TEA TRIBES

ë˙…±˜˘œ ’¬Û1+¬Û± ‰¬±˝√√ ¬ı±ø·‰¬√±Ó¬

˘øˆ¬À˘± ˜˝◊√√ Ê√Ú˜

˚íÓ¬ ø˙ø1À¯∏ ˚±“À‰¬ ˙œÓ¬˘ “√±

Œfl“¡‰¬± ¬Û±Ó¬1 ˜1˜ºí

115. This couplet truly reflects and sums up the life in our

tea gardens, an inherent and integral part of our

greater Assamese Society. The contribution of our

brothers and sisters of Tea Gardens to the State’s

economy is widely known. Their immense contribution

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to the formation and subsequent development of

Greater Assamese culture too is unparalleled.

116. Incidentally, these beautiful lines have been penned

down by Late Shankar Kishen, elder brother of our

dear colleague in this August Assembly, Shri sanjay

Kishen, Honble MLA Tinsukia.

117. Honble Speaker Sir, our Government accords highest

priority to the welfare of tea garden workers. Our

intention is clear: to back all announcements with

concrete, tangible actions and projects. Honble

Members would have already noticed that in this

budget, many important measures have been

announced. Speaker Sir, I want to propose another

ambitious plan today: I propose to earmark at least

5% of the Budget of all the departments, excluding

budgetary outlay on salaries, would be spent in the

tea garden areas. This is a momentous decision, which

stands to guarantee all-round development of our

people residing in the State’s tea garden areas. This

will surely change the mechanics of government

spending for the welfare and, importantly,

development of tea garden brethren. We are coming

out with policy guidelines in this regard very soon.

118. I have already announced to increase the number of

seats for the students of tea garden communities in

our medical colleges. I take this forward, and propose

to introduce reservation of seats for tea garden

students in all higher educational institutions.

Further, another 670 students pursuing engineering,

medical and various other technical courses would be

provided assistance under Financial Assistance for

Higher Studies.

119. For promotion of Sports and Youth Welfare among

the tea tribes’ communities, “Chief Minster’s Cup Inter

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Garden Football Tournament” was organized where a

total 446 Tea gardens from across the State

participated. This will be organized in coming years

as well. To encourage the budding sporting talent, we

propose a state-of-the-art Football Academy in the

months ahead.

120. Further, to preserve the cultural traditions of our tea

garden communities, we propose to construct

Rangmanch in each of our 750 odd tea gardens at

the unit cost of Rs. 15 Lakh. For the coming financial

year, I propose to take up 50 such tea gardens.

121. The Govt. has made budget provisions for distribution

of 1,21,000 nos. of energy efficient LED bulbs of to

40,400 nos. of families. We also propose to provide

Insurance Premium @ Rs. 12/- for 10 Lakh

beneficiaries registered with Assam Tea Employees

Provident Fund Organization. We propose to extend a

grant of Rs. 25000 each to 1000 Divyangs belonging

to tea tribes.

122. On the rural development, we propose to provide a

sum of Rs. 10000 to about 2000 Women Self Help

Groups. Speaker Sir, we will also take up the revival

plan of the gardens of Assam Tea Corporation in a

phased manner.

WELFARE OF PLAIN TRIBES AND BACKWARD

CLASSES : UNSTINTED SUPPORT

123. The colour and vibrancy of Assam lie in its ethnicity,

customs of tribal and other communities. This

strength of our society is required to be showcased

and demonstrated to new generation in the State and

also to the World. The strong brotherhood and human

bonds across more than 70 tribes is our valuable asset

and our Government cherish the same. We therefore,

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propose to create a unique centre called Sahodar

Samannay Khetra at a central place in the State. Such

centre would display tribal icons, symbols of culture

and traditions of various communities. This centre will

be developed at global standards.

124. We have thoroughly reviewed various Government of

India’s schemes meant for Welfare of Tribes and

Backward classes. We will take maximum benefit out

of them so that a greater proportion of this population

can be covered.

125. Further, for Pre-Matric and Post-Matric scholarships

for SC, ST and OBC students, we will ensure that the

full amount of scholarship will be received by the

students without any delay and without any budgetary

constraints. I have provided Rs.35.90 crores for Pre-

Matric scholarship and Rs.204.00 crores for Post-

Matric scholarships for the students of SC, ST and

OBC in my budget for 2017-18. In addition, an

innovative scheme has been proposed this time to

develop 12 number of ST villages as Model Villages to

showcase the tribal culture. For this I have allocated

Rs.12.00 crores during 2017-18.

126. During my last budget speech I had also outlined the

importance that this Government attaches to the

Autonomous Councils and development of the

population being covered by them. The matter of

timely release of adequate funds to these Councils

was also examined and it was decided to issue detailed

guidelines so that Autonomous Councils can follow

the procedures for effective implementation of the

schemes. I also urge the Autonomous Councils to take

up bigger projects which will create durable assets to

meet the demand of the local population.

127. The general trend of annual incremental growth in

plan allocations to line Departments and Autonomous

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Councils has generally been not more than 10%. Sir,

you will be pleased to note that this time I have

increased the allocations to Autonomous Councils as

high as 20% compared to the previous year. I

personally feel that this is a very good gesture from

the State Government under the leadership of our

large hearted Chief Minister.

128. This year I now propose to allocate the following

amount in the current budget against each of 6 (six)

Autonomous Councils for 2017-18.

a. Lalung Tiwa Autonomous Council – Rs. 36.00 crores

b. Mising Autonomous Council – Rs. 72.00 crores

c. Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council – Rs. 54.36 croces

d. Deuri Autonomous Council – Rs. 20.35 crores

e. Sonowal Kachari Autonomous Council – Rs. 33.18 crores

f. Thengal Kachari Autonomous Council – Rs. 18.00 crores

As regards, construction of permanent Secretariat

buildings for these Councils, I have earmarked Rs.5.00

crores per each Council and in the current budget I

have made adequate provision in this budget.

WELFARE OF MINORITIES & DEVELOPMENT: ON

THE PATH TO INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

129. Speaker Sir, today, we need to focus on our women

belonging to minority community for raising the levels

of their educational and health standards. Statistics

reveal that there are issues relating to high infant

Mortality and Maternal Mortality amongst this

demographic segment. Time has come to create a

progressive atmosphere, which can support education,

literacy, livelihood and overall development of our

minority women. We need to create an environment

that is conductive to gender equality. We need to

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empower our women belonging to minorities

community.

130. Self Help Groups movement continues to be a proven

method for empowerment of women in the rural areas.

Our Government would like to use this platform, and

take it forward. The SHG movement which was

announced in the last Budget will be extended to the

minority dominated areas for opening of livelihood

opportunities to the women and girls belonging to

minorities’ community. Each such Women SHG will

be entitled to receive a monetary incentive of Rs. 5

Lakh over a period of time under Kanaklata Mahila

Sabalikaran Yojana, as already announced in one of

the preceding paragraphs.

131. Further, to raise the level of literacy and importantly

higher education, we propose to establish 8 Women’s

Colleges in the minority areas.

132. Under infrastructure development, we also propose

construction of Community Complexes for the 5 nos.

of notified minority communities and Girls Common

Room with Toilets in areas not covered by the MSDP

Schemes of Govt. of India.

FOOD, CIVIL SUPPLIES AND CONSUMER

AFFAIRS: THE POOR MUST BENEFIT

133. Our Government believes that the objectives of

National Food Security Act will be defeated if the food

grains do not reach the 2.52 crore people of the State

who are eligible under the programme. Availability of

food grains inadequate quantity and on time is the

priority of our Government.

134. We are all aware that food is of value only when

supplied on time. But if it is given after the scheduled

time, it will lose its worth and value and goes waste.

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135. I am happy to inform the Hon’ble Members that our

Government has studied the root-cause of this problem

to find out the reasons why NFSA food grains do not

reach the consumers in a timely and adequately. We

found that the State Government was releasing the

funds meant for transportation cost and margin money

for GPSS/TPDS agents only after the funds were

received from the Central Government. Thus, there

had always been a time lag of 3 to 4 months and

sometimes even more than six months. This resulted

in the twin problems of - one being that the agents

resorting to cover their cost of transportation by

allegedly reducing the quantity of food grains to each

beneficiary and when regular amount was received

that benefit does not get transferring to the

beneficiaries. Secondly, some of the agents have not

been able to supply the food grains on time. To

address this problem, our Government is keen to take

steps to make systemic correction by changing the

process.

136. From 2017-18, we will first release the transportation

cost and margin money to the GPSS and other agents

in advance. Thereafter, the State Government will

adjust this money against the funds to be released by

Ministry of Food & Civil Supplies subsequently.

However, we are also cautious that Food, Civil Supplies

& Consumer Affairs Department shall ensure

utilization of these funds against only eligible

expenditure and also the cycle of release of each

installment from Government of India be suitably

synchronized. For this purpose, I have allocated Rs.

504.92 crores in my budget.

137. Our Government will implement an Innovative

Programme for doorstep- delivery of 22 non PDS items

in Ecofriendly E-Rickshaw through unemployed

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youths. The basic objective of the

scheme,”AamarDukan on Wheels” is to control price

of essential commodities by cutting the role of the

middle man. The Department will endeavour to ensure

that the daily requirement of essential commodities

is made available at the doorsteps of the consumer at

the reasonable price. For this purpose I have made

adequate provision in the budget. Further, we also

increased number of Aamar Dukans by opening 588

more new shops.

138. Lack of public procurement of Paddy by State

Government and FCI has resulted in lower prices to

the Farmers. There have been reports that most of

the farmers are deprived of Minimum Support Price

declared by Government of India. In fact, states like

Chattisgarh have done exemplary work by carrying

decentralized paddy procurement through the state

government agencies. The increased production of

paddy is sustained only if we put effective systems of

procurement in the field. It will also increase the

income levels of farmers directly. In view of this, our

Government is working on a detailed action plan for

engaging the Food & Civil Supplies Department very

actively for a large scale paddy procurement operations

from 2017-18 onwards for which I have made adequate

budget provision.

PANCHAYAT & RURAL DEVELOPMENT:

PROSPERITY IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

139. You must have heard from the Union Budget 2017-

18, the allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment Guarantee Act has reached

historical heights at Rs. 48000 Crores. Taking

advantage of this enhanced allocation, we are very

particular that maximum funds be utilized in the rural

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areas of Assam. Thrust will be given on spending 65%

of the expenditure for Natural Resource Management

during 2017-18 under MGNREGA.

140. Accordingly, we will use the funds from MGNREGA

through convergence with other funds available for

large-scale plantations in each Gaon Panchayat under

an innovative scheme called Mukhyamantri Aranya

Nirman Achoni. Under this scheme, we will create

nurseries of 2 Hectares in each Development Block,

and raise 1.02 Crore seedlings and plant them along

embankments, tanks, roadside, VGR etc. I have made

adequate budget provision in this regard.

141. Further, we will channelize 20% of the funds from

MGNREGA to Individual Beneficiary Schemes (IBS)

which will give a fillip to the rural economy.

142. A wide range of developmental activities have been

initiated under the National Rural Livelihood Mission.

We will promote 70000 Women SHGs to cover 10 Lakh

households under NRLM and each group will be

provided with a revolving fund of Rs. 10000-15000

each. I have provided Rs. 1 crore in this budget for

kickstarting this initiative. Further, 50000 SHGs will

be provided with Community Investment Fund of Rs.

50000/SHG for taking up economic activities. We will

provide Rs. 225 crore for this purpose over the course

of the year.

143. Besides, our Govt. has also launched the Pradhan

Mantri Awas Yojana (G) with the objective of providing

houses to 2.19 Lakh families within May 2017 in

addition to the backlog of 1.78 Lakh houses that will

be completed this financial year. Further, our

Government has also decided that all the buildings

constructed under PMAY (G) will be painted with the

same colour and necessary guidelines will be issued

in this regard.

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144. I am also happy to inform you that under the Deen

Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-

JKY) we will provide skill development training to

78,500 poor rural youth during 2016-19.

145. We duly acknowledge the key role played by the State

Institute of Panchayat and Rural Development in

creating rural entrepreneurs in our State over the

years. Recognizing this, we propose to establish 5

new SIPRDs in different parts of the State. The sites

will be decided in due course after consultation with

the stakeholders.

POWER DEPARTMENT : PROPELLING ALL-

ROUND GROWTH

146. Electricity is of paramount importance in the modern

world. Nowadays, the development of a country is no

longer determined by its gross capita income, rather

it is decided by the energy availability and per capita

consumption of energy.

147. The priority of our Government is to provide sufficient

and reliable power supply to everyone in the State.

However, with the given resource position and

infrastructural constrains, it would take some time to

put the system in place for supply of quality and

uninterrupted power supply.

148. However to beginning with, I propose to take steps in

this direction to cover a few important places of tourist

attraction which needs a good infrastructure including

of uninterrupted power supply to these places. As a

part of this 24x7 dedicated feeder to Kamakhya,

Kaziranga, Majuli, Tezpur, Sualkuchi, Manas and

Pabitora. Accordingly, I propose to provide

Rs.3000.00 lakh in the present Budget.

149. Various new projects have been taken up in the state

power sector recently such as infrastructure

development, providing uninterrupted power supply

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to all etc. In 2017-18, 6 (six) new power projects with

an installed capacity of 247 MW have been proposed

in the Budget. Moreover, Ministry of New and

Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of India has

proposed 688 MW of generation capacity from the

renewable energy sources in Assam till 2021-22 out

of which 663 MW will be from Solar and 25 MW will

be from small hydro electric power projects.

150. Under the Deen Dayal Upadhaya Gramjyoti Yojana, a

total of 928 numbers of un-electrified villages have

been electrified till date in 2016-17. Power will be

supplied to the remaining 1022 numbers of un-

electrified villages within 31st May, 2017. Moreover, a

total of 5,41,953 number of BPL beneficiaries will be

provided electricity connections free of cost.

151. Under Restructured Accelerated Power Development

and Reform Programme (R-APDRP), advanced IT

implementation has been successfully completed in

67 towns across Assam including Guwahati. Initiatives

have been taken to reduce the AT&C losses in these

towns considerably. Implementation of SCADA

(Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system

alongwith Smart Grid Pilot Project at Guwahati is in

progress along with Smart Grid Pilot Project. These

two projects are expected to help in maintaining round

the clock power supply in Guwahati City.

152. For the Financial Year 2017-18, our Government has

decided to launch the ‘Flagship’ programmes of setting

up of 2 (two) numbers of solar power plants having

capacities of 69 MW at Amguri in Sibasagar district

and of 20 MW at Chandrapur in Kamrup district of

Assam respectively and also for providing 24x7 power

supply to 5(five) towns in Assam namely, Guwahati,

Dibrugarh, Sualkuchi, Rangapara and Jorhat.

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153. Number of states in the country has segregated HT

(Industry) and LT (Non- industry) feeders and this has

resulted in reduction of AT&C loss of DISCOMs. Uttar

Pradesh, Gujarat are some of the states which have

done it successfully. Hence, our Government will

support such proposal for dedicated HT feeders for

the HT consumers. I propose to allocate Rs.1000.00

lakh in the current year for preparatory works.

154. As regards pension dues of former Assam State

Electricity Board, it was agreed by the State Govt. to

take the responsibility of this liability during

unbundling of the board. However, the State Govt.

has not been able to fulfil the commitment completely.

155. As such, I propose to revise Assam Electricity Duty

under the relevant Act in due course of time. Further,

we are also keen that the pension fund available be

managed professionally in such a way that it will be

invested to get the maximum return.

URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT:

EXPANDING HORIZONS

156. Sir, as you are aware, Urban centres are ‘engines of

growth’ and all large States in India have atleast four

to five large cities which are ‘drivers of economic

growth’. Over a period of time, there has been a

criticism that successive State Governments have

focused only on Guwahati City. In this regard, I would

like to reiterate that our government is conscious of

the fact that while Guwahati will continue to get

priority as the State Capital and as the Gateway to

North East India, we need to focus on improving the

urban infrastructure of other important cities and

towns of Assam to ensure balanced regional growth.

157. Though there is some funding under the Missions of

the Union Government such as AMRUT, PMAY, etc.,

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there is an acute need for more investment from the

State Government in the urban areas, especially in

more populous cities, in a consistent manner over a

period of five years.

158. Accordingly, to begin with, we would like to take up

big infrastructure projects in the 6 cities that have

about one lakh population - Silchar, Tinsukia, Jorhat,

Dibrugarh, Nagaon and Tezpur. We will prioritize and

take up critical infrastructure projects in these six

big cities at a total outlay of Rs. 1200 crore over a

period of four years under a new Scheme, called, City

Infrastructure Development Fund (CIDF).

159. All these 6 Big Cities fall under the Urban

Development Department, and I propose to allocate

Rs 120 crore in the current budget for taking up

projects in these cities in 2017-18. I request the

members of this August House belonging to these

cities and the concerned districts to develop projects

like River-front, Public Parks, Landmark Roads,

Marriage halls, District Libraries, District Stadiums

etc. For instance, in Dibrugarh, Riverfront

development will be one of our big priorities.

160. Sir, as you are aware, adequate street lighting is a

basic requirement in towns and cities and I must admit

that large parts of our cities and towns do not have

these facilities and the citizens are put to

inconvenience. To address this perennial problem, our

Government would like to take up a unique project of

installation of 15,000 Energy Efficient LED lights in

all the 97 urban local bodies. I have set aside Rs 10

crore for this purpose in this budget.

161. I would also like to mention here that, in the Union

Budget that was recently presented on 1st of February

2017 by the Hon’ble Union Finance Minister, Rural

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Housing was given “Infrastructure status”. Since large

parts of our state are rural in nature, this

“Infrastructure status” will give a fillip to the trade

and business of the small towns of Assam and our

Government will take full advantage of this.

162. Further, I allot Rs.186.92 Crore for PMAY (Urban), in

this budget for the construction of 24340 houses

under the Beneficiaries Led Component (BLC).

163. In addition, our Government is closely monitoring the

implementation of another flagship programme of the

Central Government i.e., Atal Mission for Rejuvenation

& Urban Transformation (AMRUT) covering Guwahati,

Silchar, Nagaon and Dibrugarh. I am pleased to inform

the Hon’ble Members that, Government of India has

already approved the Service Level Improvement Plan

(SLIP) for the Mission period 2015-19, for a total

amount of Rs. 655.25 Crore for implementation of park

/ green spaces in Water Supply Projects.

164. In the last few months, we have completed Skill

Development Awareness Programme -UTKARSHA in

25 cities and 5959 candidates were trained in different

trades under the Skill Training and Placement

component.

165. Further under the National Livelihood Mission

(urban), we propose to train 50,000 urban-poor youth

under the Skill Development component. Moreover,

3000 Women Self Help Groups (SHG) will be provided

Revolving Fund (RF) and City Livelihoods Centre (CLC)

in 15 prominent towns / cities of Assam. Schemes

will be taken up for the construction of Link Roads in

the SC dominated areas under SCSP of Assam.

166. In order to improve the Urban Sanitation scenario,

under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) Assam, all

97 Urban Local Bodies of Assam will be declared Open

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Defecation Free (ODF) before Oct 2nd 2017. For this,

66624 Individual Household Latrines and 2280 seats

of community & Public Toilets will be constructed.

GUWAHATI DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT: THE

GATEWAY MUST GET ITS DUE

167. As you are aware, Guwahati is the only Corporation

in the entire State and has been seeing rapid growth

and expansion. For the continued growth of the city

and to prevent haphazard growth in outlying areas, a

long-term plan and zoning is paramount.

168. Keeping this in view, our visionary Hon’ble Chief

Minister announced in his address on the last

Independence Day that, a State Capital Region will

be established encompassing Guwahati and its

neighbouring areas. In this regard, we have initiated

the preparatory works and different city development

models available in the country including the National

Capital Region are being studied. It is envisaged to

establish a separate authority namely, “Assam State

Capital Region Development Agency”. This agency will

work in coordination with the existing agencies like

GMDA, GMC and other Urban Local bodies,

Panchayats to transform Guwahati region into a large,

vibrant metropolis. We will soon come to you with a

draft legislation to make the “Assam State Capital

Region Development Agency” a reality.

169. Laying emphasis on the expansion of the city to the

North bank, a new project is conceived for the

construction of two bridges across River Brahmaputra,

one connecting Panbazar to North Guwahati and

another connecting Palashbari to Sualkuchi. A global

tender has been called for the Consultancy Works for

the preparation of the DPR. I allocate Rs. 100 Crore

in this financial year for construction of these bridges.

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Once this project is completed, Guwahati City will

expand towards the North Bank and the congestion

in the city will be relieved.

170. I had spoken about the City Infra Development Fund

earlier in my speech and obviously Guwahati also

needs large scale investments and accordingly, I

propose to allot an amount of Rs. 200 Crore in my

budget, which will be released over 3 years to develop

landmark public infrastructure projects in the city.

171. I would also like to inform that the preparatory works

for the “Guwahati Smart City” Project have been

initiated and an amount of Rs. 189 Crore as Central

Share has been received. I have provided Rs. 400 Crore

in the current budget for this prestigious project.

172. Our Government has also decided to develop an

International Standard Botanical Park at the site of

Old Jail Land Complex in Fancy Bazar on the lines of

Singapore’s “Park Interconnect Model” under

“Guwahati Open Spaces and Park Integrator (GOPI)

network”. Further, the long pending “Ropeway Project

connecting South & North Guwahati” is targeted to

be completed by July, 2017 for which financial

sanction for an amount of Rs. 18.46 Crores has already

been issued.

173. Sir, as we are aware, solid waste management and

sewage disposal are significant problems that the city

of Guwahati faces. To resolve these issues, Guwahati

Jal Board will implement a Sewerage Project for a major

portion of the city which shall be completed by 2022.

For up-gradation and better management of Solid

Waste in the city, IIT-Kharagpur has been engaged as

Consultant to suggest the basic design of the item

required for scientific management of the dumpsite at

Boragaon to prevent environmental pollution.

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174. To provide drinking water to the citizens of this great

city, JNNURM assisted SGWWS Project shall also be

commissioned in April, 2017 and accordingly, Phase

I of JICA assisted GWSP shall supply water through

partial commissioning in 2017. For the financial year

2017-18, an amount of Rs. 205.28 Crore has been

proposed for JICA-assisted GWSP.

175. To resolve the perennial problem of artificial flooding

in Guwahati, the construction of RCC drains at

Noonmati basin for the diversion of entire flood water

of Zoo Road, Chandmari, Jyoti Nagar & Noonmati area

has been taken up and is expected to be completed

during April, 2017. Further, the construction of Sump

Wells at Anil Nagar and Lachit Nagar have also been

initiated which will result in the stoppage of backflow

of River Bharalu and facilitate the effective pumping

of flood water to reduce the duration of water logging.

176. Members of this August House, to resolve the issue of

lack of public vehicle parking spaces in Guwahati, two

Multilevel Car Parkings, one at the Text Book

Corporation land at Panbazar and another

underground car parking below the existing GMDA

parking at Ganeshguri are proposed during F.Y. 2017-

18 at an estimated cost of Rs. 32.00 Crore.

177. Sir, this Government is also proposing to establish a

State Institute of Urban Development in Guwahati for

which an amount of Rs.2.00 Crore has been proposed

during the F.Y. 2017-18 which will help build

capacities among the municipal staff.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT, EMPLOYMENT AND

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND LABOUR WELFARE:

OUR PRIME PRIORITY

178. Under the visionary leadership of Shri Narendra Modi,

Hon’ble Prime Minister, the labour and employment

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sector has seen a paradigm shift in our country as

the focus has shifted to skilling and

entrepreneurship.

179. In tune with this vision, our Government has already

created a new department under the name of Skill

Development, Employment and Entrepreneurship

Department. This would help our State to join the

country in its journey as global leader in providing

skilled manpower to the world. It is through focused

and well coordinated governance architecture that we

can make skilling initiatives truly effective.

180. I am also happy to inform you that 33 Skill

Development Centres will be established in our State

in alignment with PM Kaushal Vikash Yojana to open

up ample employment opportunities to the youth of

Assam. The exact location of these centres will be

decided very soon after proper study. In the current

budget, I propose to allocate Rs 10 crore for this

purpose.

180. We will also expedite setting up of Driving Schools in

tune with my last year’s budget announcement.

181. Our Government also proposes to setup a ‘Skill City’

in the State. This would house a number of specialized

skill schools, each catering to a sector or group of

skill sets. The first of such schools shall be set up

within this year in the hospitality sector. I am happy

to inform that our Government has already signed

MoU with ITE, Singapore in this regard. For setting

up Skill City, I propose to allocate Rs.200.00 lakh in

the budget to undertake preparatory works.

182. Under this new department, the Assam Skill

Development Mission will be nurtured into an

umbrella organization to have in its fold the entire

gamut of skill development initiatives in all sectors

throughout the State.

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183. We also propose to setup a special ITI for Divyangs.

The employment exchanges shall be converted into

modern and computerized carrier counseling centres

for these specially-abled youth with facilities to register

online and to seek career guidance and placements

facilities. This would be a great initiative for the

empowerment of Divyangs and I have made adequate

budget provision in the current budget.

184. Our Government appreciates the initiative of the

bankers in capacity building of youth for self-

employment through Rural Self-Employment Training

Institute (RSETI) in Assam. We are keen to partner

with the bankers in this critical area for helping our

youth and accordingly, I propose to allocate Rs 10

lakh as one-time grant to these Institutes in the

current budget.

TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT: CONNECTING

HIGHWAYS, RIVER WAYS AND BEYOND

185. Our Government in order to reduce road accidents

and fatalities has notified “State Road Safety Policy”.

Simultaneously, our Government has also taken steps

to constitute “The State Road Safety Authority”.

186. The Transport Department has initiated online

registration of vehicles at dealers point and will cover

all districts in phased manner. Provision is also made

for providing CCTVs in all District Transport offices in

the state. Adequate steps have also been taken revamp

IWT Sector. With this end in view, our Government

has approved the formation of “Assam Inland Water

Transport Development Society” to implement the

Assam Inland Water Project.

187. Our Government shall also introduce new, modernized

vessels and river taxies to cater to the demands of

passengers and tourists. While our Government will

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take all possible steps to restructure and revamp

Assam State Transport Corporation, our Government

has decided to set up a mini ISBT at Khanapara for

the benefit of the passengers travelling to upper

Assam. Two more ISBT, one at Tezpur and the other

at Kokrajhar will be set up.

188. Our Government has also proposed to set up electronic

check gates for collection of toll tax and to undertake

new projects like the Chief Minister’s Gramin

Paribahan Yojana. Further, a multi model terminal

will also be set up at Jagiroad.

HANDLOOM TEXTILE AND SERICULTURE

DEPARTMENT: WEAVING THE FUTURE

189. In the beginning of my speech, I have announced

Mission Muga as one of the flagship programmes of

our Government and I have already allocated Rs. 100

crores for this programme for 2017-18. This Mission

is the most comprehensive Project covering from the

Production to developing the marketing outlets.

190. In addition, developing more yarn banks and

strengthening of the existing ones is our priority so

that the weavers of the State particularly the poor

women would get the supply of quality yarn timely

and at affordable price. Accordingly, I propose to

allocate Rs. 3.46 crores.

191. Secondly though Sualkuchi is known as a renowned

Centre for Silk trade, of late, the business is sliding

down because of high cost of Mulbery Silk Yarn. If

State Government does not intervene to arrest this

trend, I am afraid that the glory of the Sualkuchi and

Assam Silk will be lost forever. It is therefore, proposed

that this challenge shall be addressed in two ways:-

first, we need to establish a exclusive Mulbery Silk

Yarn Bank to ensure that the required quantity and

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quality of silk is readily available. Secondly, we propose

to supply same at cheaper rate and State Government

will provide 20% subsidy over the market price. For

this purpose, I allocate Rs.20 crore in this budget.

We have several Khadi Centres under Assam Khadi

Village Industry Board (AKVIB) and they are our

strength provided we can make them alternative and

be professionally managed. Accordingly I propose to

upgrade 47 such Khadi Centres. I have allotted Rs.

4.7 crore initially.

INDUSTRIES & COMMERCE: CREATING GROWTH

ALL AROUND

192. I propose to establish a high end Handloom

Production Centre during 2017-18. In our vision

document, development of Industries and Commerce

has been given top priority. It was also mentioned

about the importance of improving the Ease of Doing

Business in the state. I have already spoken about

one of the largest self employment programmes,

SVAYEM Yojana, in my preceding paragraphs. It is

my assurance to this august House that, depending

on the success of the scheme in 2017-18, we will

expand the scheme next year.

193. Sir, you will be pleased to know that we passed the

“Ease of Doing Business Act” in the very first Assembly

Session after the new Government was formed.

194. In my last Budget Speech, I spoke about organizing a

Business Summit called “Vivacious” Assam in

Guwahati. However, due to the overlapping of various

other events, our Government now proposes to

organize the same during October/November, 2017.

We also propose to take some critical policy decisions

to attract investments well before the Summit. We have

already sanctioned Rs. 20 crore for this purpose and I

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hope that this Summit will be comparable to the

Vibrant Gujarat Summit in due course of time.

195. Creation of Industrial Land Bank and a transparent

policy for allocation of this land to Industries is on

our agenda. Our Government proposes to create

sectoral parks viz. Food Park, Pharmaceutical Park,

Tea Park & Textile Park in the state. In order to

encourage “Start ups” from the State, incubation

centres will be promoted. We also propose to establish

“Industrial Townships” in different locations of the

state.

196. Our Government is very keen to promote bilateral trade

with the neighbouring countries. We propose to create

a new ‘Department of Act East’ in order to engage

with the stakeholders for promoting trade with ASEAN

and South Asia. The variety of cultures and traditions

of Assam makes Assam a power house of creativity for

handicrafts. For strengthening the Craft Industry, a

“Craft Policy” will be announced shortly for providing

a platform for marketing the products of the Craft

Industries as well as other Micro & Small Enterprises.

197. In order to promote inclusive industrialization of the

State, “Primary Production Centres” are being

proposed to be set up at the point of production for

primary processing of food/agriculture produce.

198. Sir, You will be delighted to know that Numaligarh

Refinery Ltd. is implementing a “Bio-Refinery Project”

to produce “Fuel Grade Ethanol” at a cost of Rs. 950

crores. This plant will process 5 Lakh Tons of Green

Bamboo annually. This project will help in the Ethanol

Blending Programme of Government of India and will

also promote large scale local employment through

bamboo cultivation and semi-processing facilities.

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199. This unique Project is a real blessing to our society as

bamboo is widely grown here. It is a great boon at this

point of time especially when the area under Bamboo

is reducing. Such a huge demand by NRL Bio-Refinery

will be a ‘game-changer’ for the rural economy of

Assam and will stimulate the expansion of the area

under bamboo and we eagerly await the

commissioning of the project. The State Government will

pro-actively support this 3rd Generation technology

project and will partner and provide necessary

incentives for the success of this project.

200. I propose to allocate Rs.433.50 crore in the current

budget to the Industries and Commerce Department

for undertaking various activities including those

mentioned above.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: PEOPLE MAKING

TECHNOLOGY WORK

201. Our Govt. has given high priority to sustainable

development of Science & Technology. Initiatives have

been taken to promote science among the masses and

establish new institutions of excellence in the state.

202. In order to promote science in every nook and corner

of the State, Govt. has decided to establish 23 nos. of

District Science Centres in the year 2017. The mega

Science City Project is coming up at Sonapur near

Guwahati as a joint venture between National Council

of Science Museums (NCSM) and Govt. of Assam which

is expected to be completed in next 3 years.

203. 219 Nos. of Block Level Aryabhatta Science Centres

are yielding good results as interest of the student

community and common masses in the field of

Science, Technology, Innovation and Astronomy is

growing significantly.

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204. Six more new planetariums have been planned tobe set up at Majuli, Kaliabor, Amingaon, Bongaigaon,Diphu and Silchar. Land for the proposed newplanetariums have been identified. Construction ofPlanetariums at Nalbari, North Lakhimpur andKokrajhar are at advanced stage of completion.

205. Under JNNSM, MNRE, GoI launched a programmeGrid Connected rooftop and small Solar power plantsprogramme for generation of Solar power locally andto feed the excess power to grid. The Assam ElectricityRegulatory Commission has published the regulationsof grid Interactive Solar PV systems, 2015 on 14th May2015 regarding net metering arrangement of SolarPV systems. There is 70% Central Financial Assistancefrom MNRE, GoI for implementation in residential,institutional and social sector etc. The Assam EnergyDevelopment Agency (AEDA) got in-principle approvalof 14MW capacity for implementation of the abovescheme in the State at 70% Central FinancialAssistance.

206. For Biotech Park, 62 Bigha, 4 Katha and 11 Lessa (21acre) of land in Amingaon has been provided by Govt.of Assam to Guwahati Biotech Park and also 7 bighasof free land has been identified to start theconstruction of the Guwahati Biotech Park IncubationCentre (GBPIC). DPR for the construction of GuwahatiBiotech Park Incubation Centre has been preparedby PWD (Building). I have allotted 55.82 crore forScience and Technology Department in my budget.

CO-OPERATION DEPARTMENT : TOGETHER WESTAND

207. Registration of new cooperative societies in agricultureand allied sub-sectors as well as Village Organizationsunder the National Rural Livelihood Mission gives a

boost to the cooperative sector.

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208. Model advocacy programme as well as up-gradation

and registration of village organizations will be taken

up as a continuous process. 3000 odd Village

Organizations are proposed to be upgraded during

2017-18. For improving the financial health of 337

weak societies, bank linkage schemes will be taken

up.

209. The cooperative societies will further be encouraged

to participate in the paddy procurement under MSP

to facilitate the farmer shareholders to sale their

paddy with ease under the guidance of Food & Civil

Supplies Deptt., NABARD and FCI. An amount of

Rs.100.00 lakh has been proposed in 2017-18 as cash

award to better performing cooperative societies in four

categories at State, District, Sub-Division and society

level.

210. Construction of 200 plus rural godowns of cooperative

societies will be taken up in 2017-18 at an outlay of

Rs.7600 lakh. Besides, two multi-compartmental cold

storages of at least 5000MT capacity will be

constructed at Pachhim Boragaon of Guwahati and

Hojai on the land of the Assam State Warehousing

Corporation.

TOURISM DEPARTMENT: AWESOME ASSAM

211. Assam is known for its warm hospitality across the

world. We have taken a number of initiatives in this

important, revenue-earning sector. The tourist inflow

to the State has increased significantly. To showcase

our rich cultural traditions and places of tourist

interests both in India and Overseas and for aggressive

marketing thereof in a systematic manner, the

Government has engaged renowned film artist Ms.

Priyanka Chopra as the Brand Ambassador of Assam

Tourism. This would definitely take Assam on the

national and international tourist map.

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212. We propose to send 15000 pilgrims from our State to

Puri-Brindaban- Ajmeer-DargahShariff and other

important religious places of India for religious and

cultural visit through Indian Railway and Catering

Indian Railway catering and Tourism Corporation

(IRCTC). I have made a budgetary provision of Rs.10.00

crores for this purpose.

213. Another significant step taken up by the Government

is to upgrade the quality of the existing Prashaanti

Tourist lodges. We propose to do so under PPP Mode.

This would definitely help ease out the accommodation

problems and encourage the private entrepreneurs

to come forward and invest in tourism infrastructure.

We propose a budgetary provision of Rs. 5 crores for

this purpose.

214. We propose to set up of a Three Star Category Resort

/ Hotel at Majuli with the cost of 10 Crores with

finance under RIDF scheme.

215. I committed to start to set up the Tea Museum at

Dibrugarh in last Budget. For this tender process has

already completed We propose to start “Ropeway from

Kamakhya Railway Station to Kamakhya Temple” with

a joint venture with IRCTC. I am keeping a budgetary

provision of Rs.15 crore for the project.

216. Speaker Sir, we propose to start ‘Amar Alohi’, a Scheme

for developing rural home stays in Assam. It is

expected that this initiation will be beneficial for

boosting tourism apart from encouraging the rural

people of Assam to become entrepreneurs. For this

Scheme, a provision of Rs. 3.00 Crores has been

proposed in the Budget.

217. Speaker Sir, development of tourism infrastructure

works for wildlife tourism in Manas, Pabitora,

Kaziranga, Dibru Saikhowa, Panidihing and Nameri

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have already been initiated from this year. We propose

to take up tourism infrastructure development works

in the following heritage sites in the next financial

year :

Sl. Name of district Name of Heritage site Amount in

No. Crores

1 Sonitpur Kanaklata Udyan 6.09

Bamuni hills 2.66

2 Majuli Kamalabari area 30.95

Tribal theme village 6.98

Samaguri satra 4.31

Salmara pottery Village 9.07

Rawanapara Pond 1.69

3 Sivasagar Rang ghar 7.74

Talatal Ghar 15.47

Joysagar Tank 4.42

Charaideo Maidam 4.90

218. In order to showcase our rich cultural and historical

heritage, we propose to create a Centre of Study for

cultural and educational research in the name Che-

Rai-Doy Cultural and Educational Complex, in close

vicinity of Cheraideo Raja Maidam. I have made a

suitable provision in this budget for preparing a

detailed project report.

CULTURAL AFFAIRS: PRESERVING HERITAGE

219. In the last budget, I had announced establishment of

Kumar Bhaskar Barman khetra, Swami Vivekananda

Cultural and Research Centre in Barak Valley and

Azan Peer Khetra near Gorgaon in Sivasagar District.

It is a matter of satisfaction that we have made progress,

and full-fledged works on all the three centres will

start soon.

(97)

220. One of the greatest cultural icons of Assam, Khagen

Mahanta is a household name. We propose to develop

a park around his memorial, situated near Sankardeva

Kalakhetra.

221. Vrindavani Vastra is part of our historical and cultural

tradition. Honble Members are awrae that parts of

the original Vrindavani vastra are presently owned by

the British Museum in London and Musee Guimet in

Paris. Keeping the collective sentiments of our people,

and also rebuild our cultural heritage, the Government

has decided to bring these art works to the State for

exhibition. I propose to allocate a sum of Rs. 2 crore

for this endeavor.

222. Majuli, the largest inhabited riverine island in the

world, is one of the greatest seats of Vaishnavite Bhakti

tradition. For quite some time, Government is trying

for the inclusion of Majuli in the list of UNESCO’s

World Heritage Sites. We would like to prepare quality

nomination dossier for consideration. I allocate a sum

of Rs. 2 crore for this important endeavor.

223. We need to preserve our theatrical traditions and

Drama art forms. We would like to establish one State

School of Drama, on the lines of National School of

Drama. I propose to allocate a sum of Rs. 2 crore for

starting the work of this important cultural training

institution.

224. Honble Speaker Sir, the auditoriums of Sankardeva

Kalakhetra have been optimally utilized for a plethora

of activities, cultural, educational to hosting of

Governmental functions – these auditoriums have seen

them all. I propose to allocate a sum of Rs. 2 crore for

the third state of the art auditorium at Sankardeva

Kalakhetra.

(98)

225. Assam has the great tradition of making films by

eminent film makers like Rup Kunwar Jyoti Prasad

Agarwala, Bhabendra Nath Saikia and others. It is

proposed to hold an International Film Festival

annually in Guwahati on the lines of major

International Film Festivals in Goa (IFFI), Kolkata

(KIFF), Thiruvanthapuram (IFFK) amd Mumbai (MAMI),

etc. For this, I am proposing a sum of Rs. 1 crore. We

would also like to preserve Chitraban Film Studio at

Bholaguri Tea Estate set up by Rup Konwar Jyoti

Prasad Agarwala.

226. To commemorate the memory of our freedom fighters,

we would like to preserve and protect the original

buildings of Gohpur, Dhekiajuli and Sootea police

stations. We also propose to build Dhekiajuli Martyrs’

Park in the memory of 13 people who lost their lives

on 20 September, 1942 during the Indepence

struggle.

227. An additional amount has been proposed for

conservation & development of Madan Kamdev and

Charaideo Maidam archaeological sites to promote

tourism as well as for preservation of the Cultural

Heritage of Assam.

228. The festival of Ali Aye Ligang and Me- Dam-Me- Phi

will be celebrated with traditional gaiety and fervor

and will be incorporated in the annual calendar of

Cultural Affairs Department from this year onwards.

229. To promote the ethnic and Cultural identity of the

Mishing Tribe, setting up of Cultural Complex in the

name & style of “Abotani Dirbi Lotta” in the premises

of Paramannada Atoi Niketan, Gogamukh is under

process.

(99)

230. Cultural Affairs Department has also laid emphasis

on Protection, Preservation and Development of

Archaeological Sites and Monuments of the State of

Assam and has conserved 115 Nos. of Archaeological

Sites and Monuments till date.

231. Since their inception, Museums have served varied

and ever increasing audience of Assam. In the

hallowed memory of Swahids of Patharughat, a

Museum on Darrangi Art & Culture will be established

at Patharughat, Darrang.

232. Bare Saharia Bhavna of Jamugurihat is a famous

cultural event of the State. I propose to allot a sum of

Rs. 1 crore for its preservation.

233. Traditional knowledge is integral to the identity of

most local communities. It is a key constituent of a

community’s social and physical environment and, as

such, its preservation is of paramount importance. We

accord high priority to our tribal and ethnic traditions.

We would like to preserve this traditional knowledge

and collective wisdom in a scientific manner. We would

like to establish institutional mechanism for this

initiative.

234. We propose to construct cultural complexes in the

honour of Bir Raghav Moran, the iconic hero of Moran

community, and Maha Bir Chilarai.

235. In order to help the film industry of the State, I propose

to give a subsidy of Rs. 50 Lakh for reopening of closed

cinema halls and Rs. 25 Lakh for renovation of the

existing / functional cinema halls. I also propose a

subsidy of 25% of the capital cost in case of

establishment of new cinema halls. The Department

will soon issue detailed guidelines in this regard.

(100)

PUBLIC ENTERPRISES :

TOWARDS REVITALIZATION

236. As a result of the constant efforts and various initiatives

of the PE Department, the numbers of profit making

state PSUs have gone up substantially. The

Department has undertaken the task of formulating

a State Public Enterprises policy to improve the

performance of the Public Sector Enterprises of the

state through reform measures, effective

administration, management and control. It is

expected that with the strong favourable policies of

the present Government, most of the state PSUs, in

the near future, will become economically self-reliant

and will be able to contribute to the development of

the state.

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT (BUILDING & NH):

BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE

237. Our Govt. has given due emphasis for the integrated

development of Highway Network in the State for

development of other sectors like Agriculture,

Horticulture, Tourism, Health, Education etc. This we

would like to envision in the perspective of the Act

East Policy and Trans-Asian Highways.

238. Our Government greatly acknowledges the

contribution of the Ministry of Road Transport and

Highways’ (MoRTH) contribution and their guidance

in this regard. We would also like to place it on record

the pro-active role of Hon’ble Union Minister, Shri

Nitin Gadkari in this regard. You are well aware that

the new bridge at Saraighat over river Brahmaputra

was recently inau gurated which is expected to reduce

traffic condition.

(101)

239. In addition to above, we propose to construct an

alternative 4 lane road from Changsari (East West

Corridor) to Kuruwa along the North Bank with a six

lane Bridge over River Brahmaputra Between Kuruwa

and Narengi to connect East West Corridor near

Khanapara. This would further ease the traffic

congestion in Guwahati By-pass. I am happy to inform

that MoRTH has agreed in principle to construct this

bridge by NHAI.

240. Our Government is also taking all necessary steps for

the construction of the missing links of Srirampur-

Dhubri–Fulbari, Desangmukh-Tekeliphuta-

Dhakuakhana-North Lakhimpur-Majuli. Out of the 13

numbers of newly declared National Highways, the

preparation of feasibility report & DPR are at the

advanced stage in 3 nos. of NHs covering a total length

of 178.22 km.

241. We have also initiated the process of introduction of

energy efficient GREEN BUILDING concept in all

ongoing and future Major building projects. We

emphasize environment friendly construction for all

future buildings projects.

242. We shall endeavour to complete the major ongoing

Building projects like New Assembly Building at

Dispur and National Judicial Academy and Law School

at Amingaon on time.

GOVERNMENT CONVENTION CENTRE,

GUWAHATI

243. Consultation and Communication are critical elements

of effective governance. This needs a physical

environment for meeting of all stakeholders. Vigyan

Bhawan in New Delhi is an ideal example for this.

While almost all states including those in the north

east region, have marquee convention centre, our

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State does not have any such venue. Therefore, it is

proposed to construct the Assam State Convention

Centre and the State PWD will come up with an iconic

design with modern amenities including parking space

etc. I set apart Rs.10 crore for preparatory works for

this purpose in the current budget.

SUGAM ASSAM

244. With the renewed focus of our Government on

Divyangs, the public infrastructure in general and

the Government buildings in particular is also required

to be ‘barrier-free’ for the Divyangs so that their

physical movement of these people will become as

seamless as for anyone. With this noble objective, our

Government will launch a State level programme in a

mission mode, called ‘SUGAM ASSAM’- barrier free

Government buildings. As you would appreciate Sir,

though this is a small initiative to make the lives of

the Divyangs easier, it will act a significant enabler

for them in joining the mainstream society.

245. On the floor of this august House, I also urge all the

private organizations –schools, hospitals, offices etc.

to join us in this journey of making Assam, the “First

Barrier- Free State” in the country. As part of this,

we will make provision for barrier- free access in

Government offices within 2017-18. For this pious act,

I have provided Rs. 10 crore in the budget of PWD(R)

Department.

PUBLIC WORKS (ROAD) DEPARTMENT

246. Road infrastructure is the most critical requirement

for growth and development of the State and the roads

are the lifeline for the rural economy. In my last

speech, under Chief Minister Path Nirman Yojana, I

committed to allocate Rs. 2000 crores for construction

of new roads and maintenance of old roads for a period

(103)

of three years making provision of Rs. 600 crores in

2016-17 and assured Rs. 800 crores in 2017-18 and

Rs. 600 crores more in the 3rd year i.e. 2018-19. I

have accordingly allocated Rs 800 crore in the current

budget. Hon’ble members will appreciate that this is

one of the largest allocations to the road sector from

the State resources.

247. Further, increased traffic congestion in big towns has

posed a very serious challenge. Our Government will

give priority for construction of Flyovers in phased

manner in all important Cities/Towns. In this budget,

I propose to construct one Flyover at Ganeshguri

connecting Zoo road to Ganesh Mandir over the

existing flyover and one at Supermarket tri-junction.

248. Our Government gives priority to the similar

requirement in other cities of the State also and

accordingly, I propose to construct one flyover in

Silchar from Rangirkhari Point to Silchar Railway

Station at Tarapur via Premtola. Further, we will also

construct one flyover in Dibrugarh from junction point

of Convoy Road and NH-37. For this purpose, I have

kept aside Rs. 100 crores in this budget.

WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENT

ì¬ıËp¡¬Û≈S ˜˝√√±¬ı±U ˙±ôLÚ≈fl”¡˘ ÚµÚ’À˜±‚± ·ˆ«¬¸y≤Ó¬ ¸¬ı«¬Û±¬Û— ˘øˆ¬Ó¬ Œ˜ ˝√√1ºî

(The mighty Brahmaputra is a son of Shantanu Dynasty.

One can get rid of all sins by a dip in the river

Brahmaputra.)

249. The river Brahmaputra and Barak are the life lines of

Assam .To convert the problems related to these rivers

into resources, this Government is making all efforts.

As a part of this, to increase navigability of the

(104)

Brahmaputra and reduce flood and erosion, dredging

of Brahmaputra and construction of “Brahmaputra

Express Highway” on both banks have been

conceptualized. In this respect, preliminary survey for

the proposed “Brahmaputra Express Highway” has

been inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister,

Assam on 24/12/2016 at Dibrugarh. Further, the

proposed Express Highways on both banks of the river

shall protect the valley from recurring flood events

every year and shall play a major role as adaptive

measure of climate change. A budget provision of

Rs.2.50 Crores has been kept for survey and

investigation for this ambitious project. In this

connection an expert committee has been constituted.

This Government lays emphasis on proper utilization

of the rich water resources of the State. Reorientation

and modernization of the Department will bring in

professionalism for better water resources development

and management for which efforts are being made.

ìfl¡˘— ¤øÓ¬˚˛± ŒÓ¬ÀÚ˝◊√√ Ó¬1±—, Œ‡±Ê√fl¡±øϬˇ ¬Û±¬ı ˝√√í¬ı ¬Û±ø1¬ı1Ù≈¬È¬œ˚˛± ¬ı±ø˘À1 ˆ¬ø1 ¬Ûø1ÀÂ√ fl¡˘„√√1 ¸±1n∏ª± ¬ı≈fl≈¡ºî

(Now Kollong has become shallow and can be

crossed on foot. The bed of the

river is filled up with sand)

The Kollong an off shoot channel of the Brahmaputra,

was a life line of middle Assam for ages contributing

to the economic, social and cultural prosperity of the

region. This Government is making sincere efforts to

rejuvenate the now defunct and dead Kollong for which

a Signature Project is proposed and a provision of

Rs.10.00 Crores is made in this budget for survey and

investigation. Further, government have constituted

an expert committee for rejuvenation of Kollong river.

(105)

250.With persuasion of the State Govt., DEA, Ministry of

Finance, Govt. of India has posed to the World Bank

the proposed Assam Flood Erosion and River

Management Modernization Project (Rs.1500.00

Crores). The First Identification Mission of World Bank

visited the State during 7th - 11th November, 2016.

This project aims at developing on integrated Flood

and Erosion Management System in Brahmaputra and

Barak valleys of Assam.

251.This time the Water Resources Department have

started restoration work of embankment in the month

of December which are targeted to be completed by

31st March, 2017. This time the quantum of fund

allotted for such purpose is nearing fourth times to

that allotted in earlier year. It is expected that

reconstruction work of breached reaches of

embankments will be completed within the stipulated

time.

252.This Government have given special emphasis on the

flood and erosion problem of Majuli the largest

populated river island in the world. Department have

already started construction of a large full fledged

water resources complex at Majuli. Further to arrive

at a permanent solution of flood and erosion problem

of Majuli, an expert committee has been constituted.

253.Embankments are the basis of our rural economy and

proper protection and maintenance of the vast

network of embankments of the State with active

participation of people – especially those residing

along these structures will be given emphasis by our

Government. It is proposed to engage rural youth for

participating in the maintenance and protection of

dykes for 4 to 6 months of the flood season for which

necessary budget provision is being made.

(106)

PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING :

CLEAN WATER-CLEAN ASSAM

254.Our Government has set the goal for Open Defecation

Free and Clean State under Swachh Bharat Mission

(Gramin) by 2nd October’ 2017. A special drive has

been launched to expedite the construction of

Individual Household Latrines (IHHL) in the state as

the performance of Assam till last year was abysmally

low. Weekly video conferences are being held with

the Deputy Commissioners by the Chief Secretary.

This is also being reviewed regularly by the Hon’ble

Chief Minister. This has started yielding results and

during this financial year, we have constructed over

5.6 Lakh IHHLs till January, 2017. Around 17.58 Lakh

families have been targeted for providing low cost

sanitary toilets during 2017-18.

255.Also, 191 Community Sanitary Complexes and 93 nos

Solid & Liquid Waste Management projects shall be

taken up during the coming financial year.

256.You will be happy to know that under the Neer Nirmal

Pariyojana, works have been started in 63 Gram

Panchayats in the 3 districts of Hailakandi, Jorhat

and Kamrup (M) with a target to complete by 2018

ata total project cost Rs. 676.03 Crores.

257.Second Batch of the project will cover 98 Gram

Panchayats more in the 3 districts of Sivasagar,

Bongaigaon, and Morigaonat an estimated cost of Rs.

822.67 Crores.

258.Sir, we are acutely aware that drinking water is a

serious issue in many towns. In a phased manner, we

shall consider the same. But, in this budget, I propose

to set apart of Rs.1000 lakhs for providing drinking

water to Lumding which is one of the oldest towns in

the State.

(107)

Further, it is noticed that the drinking water schemes

could not be run efficiently due to lack of power

supply, especially in remote areas. Our Government

proposes to provide Solar Power System in Chaparis,

Majuli, Remote and other difficult areas (Tribal Char

Areas) for energizing the Water Supply System. For

this, I propose to allot Rs. 400 lakh in 2017-18.

259.Similarly, there is a need to provide potable water in

tea garden areas and to begin with, I propose to

provide Rs.500 lakh for the same in the current

budget.

260.Altogether, 3442 nos. of habitations have been brought

under the category of Arsenic affected habitations.

Our Govt. will take steps to cover more villages under

new National Sub-Mission of Govt. of India which aim

to cover all Arsenic & Fluoride affected habitations by

31st March 2020.

ENVIRONMENT & FOREST: TOWARDS A GREEN

COVER

261.Hon’ble Members, it was not long back, people used

to symbolize Assam as home of environment & forests.

This epithet may not be true today. Our forests need

protection. We need to work on our environment. We

want to regain our lost glory on this count. This is an

important agenda before our Government today.

262. I sincerely feel that if Human civilization is to

continue its march forward, unabated, it has to

worship nature, who is our mother. This tradition

of conservation of nature has been handed down to

us by our ancestors, by our culture and our heritage.

Atharva Veda states :

“Mata Bhumi Putrahom Prithva”,

“This world is our Mother and we are her children”.

(108)

263.After the present Government came to power, the

Department has taken up plantation of more than

1.42 crore seedlings. We have decided to take up

massive plantation in degraded lands in aid of

densification of the existing canopy cover. We are

earmarking an amount of Rs.1500 lakh for

improvement of forest cover through restoration and

afforestation. Further, an amount of Rs. 500 lakh has

been set aside for taking up a greening initiative for

greater Guwahati city.

264. In this initiative, Mr. Speaker Sir, we want to take

people along. We want to make this a people’s

movement. Towards this end, we propose to take such

programmes to the villages. An amount of Rs.500 lakh

has been set aside for this purpose. All these measures

are expected to go a long way in helping Assam gain

the status of a Carbon Negative State.

265.Our Government has taken up strong initiatives for

protecting wildlife as well as for making our forests

free from encroachment. As Hon’ble members are

aware, the Deosur and Bandardubi villages in

Kaziranga have been cleared of all encroachments.

Steps are afoot for clearing encroachments in other

areas too.

266.Our Government has initiated steps for appointing

525 frontline staff and 274 members of forest

protection force. For protection of wildlife in Kaziranga

and other reserved forest areas, it has been decided

to provide sophisticated arms and equipment to forest

guards and forest protection forces. An amount of

Rs.20 crores has been earmarked for this. Our

Government has decided to enhance the ex-gratia

payment to the victims of man-animal conflict from

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Rs.1 lakh. The Department also proposes to set up

two Interpretation Centre cum Museums at Jaypur

and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, respectively.

MINES AND MINERALS DEPARTMENT :

267.Our Government has laid a special focus on the

development of mineral resources of Assam. In order

to increase the revenue, department has already

granted 3 (three) Petroleum Mining Leases and one

to Oil India Ltd. for production of Crude oil and natural

gas.

268.As part of Re-START Assam, the department has

initiated mission mode approach for innovative policy

measures such as possible participation in auction of

marginal oil fields, acquiring small coal fields etc.

Besides we are proposing to take reformative measures

to increase number of Sand Mahal in both Forest and

Non Forest areas in the state so that the construction

activities in the State will be greatly benefitted and

expedited.

SPORTS : ONE SPIRIT, ONE TEAM

269.There have been some good developments on this score

in recent times. Guwahati is fast emerging as the

sports capital of the country, courtesy a series of

national and international sports events that the city

witnessed during the last few months. You are aware

that we have been successful in getting FIFA- under

17 to Guwahati. It is indeed an honour to our State.

270.On the crucial issue of sports infrastructure, we

propose to adopt two pronged strategy : strengthen

the existing infrastructure, and build the new ones

based on assessment. We also want to lay emphasis

on coaching and exposures.

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271. In this regard, utilizing the existing infrastructure

of Sarusajai Sports Complex, we propose to establish

one State of the Art sports facility named after the

great Arjuna awardee Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah

State Sports Academy. Equipped with latest sporting

infrastructure, this Academy will have

accommodational facilities for our budding talents. I

propose to allocate Rs.500.00 lakh in the current

budget for this purpose.

272.Honble Members would agree that there is an urgent

need to strengthen the infrastructure of Rudrasingha

Sports Complex, Dispur in order to provide modern

gym, swimming pool etc. Accordingly, I set apart

Rs.200.00 lakh for this purpose.

273.This August House is aware that we conducted South

Asian Games at Guwahati with grand success under

the able leadership of our Chief Minister Shri

Sarbananda Sonowal in his capacity as the then Union

Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs. We managed to

earn nationwide accolades. ‘Tikhar’, our mascot,

became so popular. To keep the memory of the South

Asian Games alive, we propose to set up of a Theme

Park in the name of Tikhar at Jalukbari with an initial

allocation of Rs.200.00 lakh for preparatory works.

274. In the last budget, I had announced three new

stadiums at Dibrugarh, Kamrup and Lakhimpur. As

the Department has progressed in preparatory works,

I allocate Rs.600.00 lakh for 2017-18. Once the

progress of three stadiums is achieved, similar State

of the Arts Complex will also be set up in other district

Headquarters of the State in due course of time.

275.Sports Talent Search Scholarship will be given to the

students and players of the State for their outstanding

performance in the sports competitions at State,

National and International levels.

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276.Further, an amount of Rs. 50.00 lakh has been

proposed initially for establishment of NCC Academy

at Jorhat. The Academy will focus on the youth of the

State for all round development and also encourage

patriotic feeling through participation in NCC

activities.

REVENUE AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT

277 When we think about Land Revenue in Assam, we

are reminded of Gaonburas and Mouzadars. Our

Government recognizes the service rendered by these

two Institutions to the people of the Assam. I am happy

to inform this house that we will ensure the full

budgetary provision for the remuneration of the

Gaonburas so that they can receive regular payment

in time. Accordingly, I propose to make an allocation

of Rs.4423 lakhs in the current year.

278.Our Government has also decided to introduce

Mouzadar system in place of existing Tahasildar

system in eight districts. Further in order to encourage

digital transactions, our Government announced

financial incentives to Mouzadar also.

279.Besides Government has an action plan for

computerization of all the Mouzas in a time bound

manner.

With changing times, our Government wants to give

new orientation to the Land Revenue Department by

involving itself in preparation of “History of Settlements

in Assam” This is aimed at documenting the socio-

economic and cultural pattern of settlements across

the State having evolved since pre-independence

period. This Project named as “DISCOVERY OF

ASSAM” will help reinventing the roots of history,

culture and economy of all the major and minor ethnic

and social groups of the State and highlight their

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religio-cultural traditions, social customs and

practices. It will also document the defining moments

and events in the history of these settlements and

the important landmarks associates with them.

280.The Project is proposed to be implemented in

collaboration with Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social

Change and Development, Guwahati. Accordingly, I

propose to allocate Rs.200 Lakhs for the related works

of this Project in this budget.

281.Our Government has come across a peculiar situation

in case of households who were allotted Government

land on the grounds such as landless people,

rehabilitation due to natural or man-made disasters

or land acquisition. Though such situation was not

voluntary from these households, they are forced to

pay premium while giving them permanent settlement

or myadi patta. Our Government will give complete

relief to these cases by bring out a suitable policy to

exempt them for payment of premium while issuing

myadi patta.

282.Our Government is committed to bring the

administration closure to the common man and

accordingly we feel that there is a need of creation of

more Revenue Circles in the State rather than creating

more districts. We therefore, propose to constitute a

Committee to examine the matter to create new

Revenue Circles in most needy places only.

SMALL TEA GROWERS- REKINDLED SPIRIT OF

YOUTHFUL ASSAM

283.We are all aware about the revolution in tea cultivation

in Assam. Small tea growers have changed the

landscape of the State- both literally and physically.

About 1,25,000 small tea gardens across the State

changed the rural economy and we have 78,268 small

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tea growers registered with the Directorate of Tea in

Assam. This has become example for rest of the tea

growing states in India.

284.We would like to reiterate our commitment to stimulate

and encourage this sector with more constructive and

innovative policy decisions. Our Government is

committed to remove the cess on green tea leaves

completely over a period of time. During the last six

months, we reduced this amount from 25 paise to 15

paise per kilogram of green leaves. I am happy to

announce to reduce this now further by another 5

paise to make it only 10 paise per kilogram with effect

from 1st April 2017.

285.We have noted that the land records of small tea

growers are the biggest challenge in monetization of

the land value for investment of funds for improvement.

One of the reasons was that the State did not have

properly cadastrally surveyed and updated land

records historically. In view of above, our Government

will come up with a unique incentive to the small tea

growers for settling of the land after fixing a nominal

amount of premium i.e., Rs.1000.00 per bigha for the

existing small tea gardens and also for the future start-

up small tea gardens.

286.Further this benefit will be given to Small Tea Growers

who registered themselves with Tea Board of India

and those who have the land holding up to 30 bighas

only so that the benefit reaches the most deserving

section of the Society.

Further, a Training & Research centre at an

estimated cost of Rs. 17 crores will be set up funds for

which will be drawn out of the Cess Fund available.

287. In the last budget, we announced an incentive for

inputs for Rs.5000 per bigha for new plantations to

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be developed by small tea growers by bringing

uncultivable/fallow lands and the detailed guidelines

were issued by the Industry and Commerce

Department. For implementing this scheme, I set

apart Rs.1000 Lakhs in the current budget. Further

our Government is keen to unleash the monetary

value of land under cultivation by small tea growers.

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

288.During the financial year 2016-17, I had allocated

Rs.1.00 crore to each Assembly Constituencies in one

go, thus discontinuing the earlier practice of such

releases in instalments. For the next financial year

also, I follow the same pattern, and accordingly a sum

of Rs. 126 crore under MLA Local Area Development

Scheme is being allocated. Like the current year, I

have allocated Rs. 63 crore for implementing SUHRID

in the next financial year as well.

289.Our Government desires to rename the Planning &

Development Department as “Department for

Transformation and Development of Assam (DTDA).

290.Hon’ble Members would appreciate that there are

plethora of schemes being implemented at the state

government level. In order to harness the full potential

of these schemes, we need an effective monitoring

framework. We also need a common platform for

channeling resources from various quarters: ranging

from Central Sector Schemes to Externally Aided

Projects. It is hoped that this new Department–DTDA

will provide an enabling environment so that the fruits

of all CSS and EA Projects are meaningfully utilized.

291.As I mentioned earlier, one of the four pillars of our

new modern Governance is people’s participation.

Accordingly, we propose to utilize services of citizen’s

committee in improvement of the service delivery in

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critical sectors like Education, Health, Drinking Water,

Sanitation and Agriculture etc. Thus we will constitute

“Citizen’s Committee to facilitate district

administration for qualitative service delivery” by

forming such Committees in every block of our State.

292.The Committee will consist of the district level heads

of the concerned Department as members alongwith

5 leading citizens of the district having expertise in

the matter. The members of the Committee will have

the power to visit the field offices, Schools, Hospitals

at regular intervals or as per decision of the Committee

and give feedback to the district administration for

consideration.

293.Another visionary step of our Government was to

prepare and publish vision Assam 2030 – everything

and everyone – achieving inclusive and sustainable

development. We set up SDG cell and have already

prepared 7 years Strategic Plan and 3 years Action

Plan (SPSP) to catalyze implementation of SDGs as a

single Synergized Holistic Initiative (SSHI) is under

progress. I am happy to announce that first ever

outcome budget aligned to SDGs has been prepared

and place before this August House.

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT

294.As I stated earlier, the works related to extension of

Assam House, Shillong and Assam Bhavan, Mumbai

are completed and construction of new multistoried

Assam Houses/Bhavans at New Delhi, Bangalore,

Bhelore, Chennai and additional one at Kolkata are

nearing completion. We are hopeful that these facilities

will be made functional from 1st day of new Assamese

year, Rangali Bihu, 2017.

295.Our Government believes in putting the systems in

place to serve the very purpose of announcing 6 (six)

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new districts. Accordingly I allocate Rs.5000.00 lakh

in the current year to create the infrastructure

required in the new districts and depending on the

progress, additional amount is provided as in course

of time.

296.We propose to constitute a Committee to firm up the

establishment of a Mini Secretariat in Barak Valley.

The terms of reference of this Committee will, inter

alia, include identification of land and other required

infrastructural facilities. The Committee will also make

recommendations on the extent of devolution of powers

under the Rules of Executive Business.

SECRETARIAT ADMINISTRATION

297.Efficiency of Administration can be increased by

capacity building of Human Resource and transparent

system in movement of files in the Secretariat.

Accordingly it is proposed that Human Resource

Management System (HRMS) will be rolled out

alongwith introduction of File Management System

(FMS) in all the Departments in Assam Secretariat.

Besides, we propose to depute 100 employees to other

State’s Secretariats/National Capital for exposure

visit.

298.As a welfare measure and safety for Women employees

of Assam Secretariat, it is proposed to provide Staff

Bus for their commuting to the Office.

299.Since the Secretariat is the centre of the

administration, we will ensure that all 602 numbers

of vacant posts will be filled up on priority.

INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATION

300. In my last budget speech, I promised to streamline

the entire mechanism involved in payment of bills

against the advertisements in the newspapers so that

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payments to the media houses can be made promptly.

In this regard, I am happy to share with you that

during the last few months, we have released about

Rs. 22 crores till 31st January, 2017 to clear the huge

pending bills lying unsettled from the past.

301.We have now made an obligatory ceiling system for

this purpose to release Rs. 1.4 crores every month

without going through normal ceiling procedures. This

has yielded good results and as on today except a few

running bills, no amount is pending with the I & P R

Department.

302.We also feel responsible to the families of journalists

who may lose their lives while in service due to various

reasons. In recognition of the profession of journalism

and its critical role in social advancement, I propose

to constitute ‘Journalist Family Benefit Fund’ for

providing suitable financial assistance to the bereaved

family members of such journalists. Detailed

guidelines of the scheme will be prepared by the

Information and Public Relation Department and I have

made adequate budget provision for this purpose.

303.Continuous improvement in professional skills and

updating knowledge in journalism is pre-requisite for

quality reporting and constructive role in development

of the society. Recognizing this, our Government is

happy to announce that media fellowship of Rs. 50,000

(Rupees fifty thousand) to selected journalists for

pursuing higher studies in the relevant field of

journalism. In 2017-18, 20 such fellowships will be

awarded. Information & Public Relation Department

will issue necessary guidelines in this regard. I have

made adequate budgetary provision for this purpose.

304.Many respected journalists who have dedicated their

lives to the public service in the field of journalism

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may need financial security after retiring from the

profession. In view of above, you will be delighted to

know that Journalists’ Pension will be introduced

for this purpose on the lines of “literary, artists and

sports” pension from 2017-18 onwards.

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

305.Our Government is keen to help expeditious redressal

of legal cases. As part of this, legal aid was provided

by the Assam State Legal Services Authority and the

District Legal Services Authorities to 3712 persons

covering Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribe, backward

classes, women, children and others during 2016-17.

306.Further, as I promised in my last budget speech, a

record number of cases were disposed of through Lok

Adalat. Cases worth about Rs.8000.00 lakh. was

settled and 52,473 cases were disposed off. I place on

record the appreciations of State Government for this

great service rendered by the State Judiciary.

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT

307.As a student of law, and as a citizen, I have always

believed in the dictum –”justice delayed is justice

denied”. It is not a simple quote. It encompasses many

grave meanings. However, we must look into the

support system that enables our judicial system to

function well. Mostly, it is the deficits, in terms of

human resources and physical infrastructure that

comes in the way of effective functioning of the judicial

system. We are committed to resolve these deficits in

a phased way.

308.Our Government is citizen-centric. It has been making

serious efforts to improve the access of State judiciary

in the interior places of the State. In this regard, we

are grateful to of our Hon’ble Chief Justice, Gauhati

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Sl. No. Department

High Court, Shri Ajit Singh for his pro-active stance.

Honble Chief Justice has been working very closely

with the State Government for bringing the justice

delivery system to the door- steps of the common

people. Many initiatives are in the offing in this realm:

the High Court has proposed for construction of new

Judicial Court Buildings in Mangaldoi, Gohopur,

Bilashipara, Sadia, Udlaguri, Hajo, Kamrup

(Amingaon) and Dhubri. We commit to provide

requisite funds for construction of the Court buildings

and other infrastructures. We feel grateful to the

Gauhati High Court for constituting the Commercial

Bench in the High Court and designating Commercial

Courts in the Districts. This is a significant step

forward which will also aid our avowed goal of ‘Ease of

Doing Business’.

309.We heartily appreciate the initiative taken by the

Hon’ble Gauhati High Court by designating the senior

most Addl. District & Sessions Judge in the Districts

of Golaghat, Jorhat, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Nagaon,

Sonitpur, Barpeta, Cachar, Darrang and Udalguri as

Fast Track Court for trial of offences under the Wildlife

(Protection) Act, 1972. We propose to establish one

Fast Track Court each in the districts of Cachar,

Tinsukia and Hojai at an estimated amount of Rs. 33

lakh each.

310.For residential infrastructure of judiciary, I propose

to allot Rs.138 lakhs for construction of two new

Judges’ bungalows and Rs.123 lakhs for residential

quarters of Grade–IV and Grade-III employees of

Guwahati High Court at Kharguli, Malibagan during

the current financial year.

311. I am happy to share that very soon the National Law

University and the Judicial Academy (NLUJA) will have

their own campuses full of modern facilities at

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Guwahati very soon. It is likely that the regular classes

will be held in the new campus from the current

academic session. To complete the remaining work of

NLUJA, I propose to allot to Rs. 800 lakh for this

purpose.

I also propose to establish Special Court for

Redressal of Land Grabbing Cases.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

312.Digital uplift of the society holds the key for

transforming the lives of the people of our State. Digital

transformation has become highly relevant after the

epoch making revolutionary demonetization scheme

of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

313.Keeping this in view, our Hon’ble Chief Minister has

laid great emphasis on promotion of digital literacy

under the banner of Digital Assam. He always

emphasized that we should strive for a happy marriage

between technology and Psychology and that digital

world reaffirms the concept of “vasudhaiva

kutumbakam” (the entire world is a family). Therefore,

our Government proposes to connect the villages of

the state through a triple play optical fibre connectivity

covering voice, data and video.

314. I am happy to inform you that the khetri GP was made

fully digital and we can now plan to make Majuli a

fully Wi-Fi district of the State. Along with high speed

connectivity, we have a plan to establish a state of the

art State Data Centre. The department is proposing

to set up Nagarik Sewa Kendras, which would be ICT

enabled Kiosks in the state in partnership with the

local educated youth of the state. It is proposed to set

up 500 Nagarik Sewa Kendras to start with.

315.Besides we are formulating a project “Making Assam

IT Nucleus and Electronics Hub” (MAIN-eHub)

incorporating components for High Performance

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Computing, hub for electronics manufacturing and

allied infrastructure to be posed for external

assistance.

316.As the economy is getting more and more digital, I

cannot but think of the security in all digital

transactions and IT systems with foolproof encryption.

The word encryption invokes in my mind the wisdom

of our ancient sages who had mastered the art of

encryption to perfection. Using the “Katapayadi”

system of encryption, the great mathematician

Madhava of Sangamgrama near Cochin composed

poetry such as “Shreshtham naam varisthanam,

himadri vedabhawanah...” which actually represents

numerical values of sine function of angles, which have

been found accurate to several decimal places by the

modern mathematicians. Similarly the shloka “Gopi

bhaygya madhuvratah srngiso dadhi samdhigah

khalajiivita khatava galahala rasamdharah” gives the

value of Pi to 31 decimal places. Inspired by the great

wisdom of the sages, our Government is committed to

take the people of Assam on a safe digital journey in

the times to come.

317. In the current budget, I propose to allocate Rs.78.00

crore for the Information Technology Department

which is 100% more than the allocation of last year.

TRIPLE INCENTIVES FOR PROMOTION OF

BPOS/IT/ITES INDUSTRY IN ASSAM

318.Assam Vision Document 2016-2025 envisages the

setting up of 100 BPOs in the State and accordingly,

our Government is committed to make sincere efforts

in this direction.

We realize that we may not be able to compete with

the existing ecosystem already available for this sector

in places like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune,

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Gurgaon etc. We also fully appreciate that there exists

regional constraints to the BPO industry and hence

substantial incentives need to be given to make Assam

an attractive destination for the BPO industries.

319. In the current context of Skill-India and Start-up India

initiated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister and in addition

to North East BPO Promotion Scheme (NEBPS)

announced by Government of India, we feel that a

very attractive incentive package is necessary to this

industry. Accordingly, our Government proposes the

following:

l State Government will provide upto 90% of one

time expenditure incurred on capital support

without any upper ceiling. Perhaps this kind of

incentive has not been provided by any other

State and even GoI only provides a 50% one time

expenditure on admissible items subject to a

upper ceiling of Rs. One lakh per seat.

l We will also provide 100% reimbursement of

stamp duty/transfer duty and registration fees

paid by BPO/IT/ITES on sale/lease deed.

l Land will be provided on a long term lease basis

at cheaper rates and we will demarcate exclusive

land parcels for the promotion of this Industry.

We are hopeful that with these slew of radical

incentives, Assam will be able to attract a number of

BPO firms.

ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS AND TRAINING

320.Our Government announced in the last budget to set

up ACS Training Academy of global standards at

Umrangshu on the lines of IAS Academy, Mussoorie.

I am happy to inform you that 1000 Bigha of land has

been identified at Lobang, Umrangshu for this

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purpose. In the current year, I propose to allocate Rs.

200.00 lakh for the preparatory works.

321.Our Government is keen that a large number of youth

from Assam should find their place in IAS, IPS etc.

We appreciate the constraints of our students.

Accordingly, I propose to provide Rs. 1 lakh per

candidate who clear preliminary examination so that

they can prepare for the main examination. Further,

I would like to state that if more candidates clear the

preliminary examination, I assure the Hon’ble

Members, that we will accordingly enlarge our

financial envelope.

322.While giving the priority to training of Grade I officers,

we cannot ignore the importance of supporting staff.

In this regard, I am also happy to inform you that we

propose to set up 4 Training Institutes for Grade III

and Grade IV staff at Guwahati, Majuli, Bongaigaon

and one in Silchar. For the current year I propose to

allocate Rs. 400 lakhs to begin the preparatory works.

323. In order to improve the productivity of administration,

manpower need analysis for each department is the

basic step. I, therefore, propose to undertake a work

study for this purpose and I propose to allocate

adequate fund for this purpose.

PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT

324.This Government is determined to bring back the

sanctity of the constitutional body, Assam Public

Service Commission (APSC) and take all steps to repose

public faith in its functioning as one of the most

competent and model Commissions of the country.

We shall also take all steps to fill up the regular

vacancies in various Departments in a time bound

manner.

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PENSION & PUBLIC GRIEVANCES DEPARTMENT

325. I am happy to announce that after our Government

took over, average number of Pension cases sanctioned

increased by more than 100% to 1000 cases per

month. During this short period, we sanctioned 6040

General Pension cases so far and we propose to

sanction 11,000 cases before the end of the financial

year. I can confidently say that this is one department

that has done wonderful jobs and I compliment the

department and Directorate of pension for such great

humanitarian job. I hope that they will be able to

contribute to the welfare of retired employees with

same vigour in future also.

236.Further, you will be pleased to know that, now the

Administrative departments can sanction arrear

pension amount up to Rs.1,00,000/- without the

approval of pension sanctioning authority. The rate of

interest on GPF has now been increased at par with

Governing of India at 8% w.e.f. 01.10.2016.

In addition to above, Special family pension has

been revised for allowing the family members of a

deceased Government servant to get the benefit of

pay as per ROP 2010 and also disability pension and

family pension benefits have been extended

provisionally to the disabled /deceased Government

servants under New Pension Scheme in line with the

Government of India.

IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSAM ACCORD

DEPARTMENT

327. In my first budget Speech, I stated that the Assam

agitation was not only an agitation for saving Assam

from the aggression of foreigners but also it was an

agitation to protect sovereignty and integrity of the

Country.

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328.As promised by me, we paid our respect to family

members of the martyrs of Assam agitation in

‘Shraddhanjali Anusthan‘ held at Veterinary Field

on 10th December, 2016. We are very grateful to them.

We are also conscious of the fact that there are persons

injured during the agitation and our Government

would extend necessary financial assistance to them

as a token of respect. The Implementation of Assam

Accord department will prepare required guidelines

and I have allocated Rs. 5 crore for this purpose.

329.You are aware that our Government has started wider

consultation with all stake-holders of the society on

the ‘Clause-6’ of the Assam Accord.

330. In this regard we are concerned about land issues of

indigenous community and protection of their rights.

I am happy to inform you that we have decided to

constitute high level Committee under the

Charimanship of Shri Harishankar Brahma, former

Chief Election Commissioner of India to examine the

matter comprehensively and submit its

recommendations to safeguard land issues related to

indigenous communities

331.As announced in my last budget to build a memorial

Park in the honour of martyrs, we have already

identified land for this purpose and work of ‘Swahid

Smarak Khetra’ shall commence shortly. I have made

adequate budget provision in this regard.

SIXTH SCHEDULE AREAS OF ASSAM

332.Our Government is fully aware of both challenges and

opportunities in development of areas in Assam under

VIth Schedule of Indian Constitution. The area specific

special requirement of Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao

and Bodoland Territorial Council will always be our

priority and we will continue to give our special

attention to the Councils.

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333.As I mentioned earlier, this time I have made an all

time higher allocation of funds to the Councils. This

amount is about 20% more than last years’ budget.

334.Over and above this allocation, I now propose to allot

one-time special grant also to the Councils without

being quoted as precedence in future. Council wise

allocation proposed is as follows:-

BODOLAND TERRITORIAL COUNCIL

335.Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi

in his public rally in Kokrajhar encouraged the State

Government to facilitate developmental activities in

BTC area. In order to meet the critical infrastructure

gap in this area, our Government proposes to allot

Rs.200.00 crore as one time grant in 2017-18 over

and above the SOPD allocation. However, this

allocation will not be quoted as precedence in future.

336.Secondly, though education sector is entrusted

subject, looking at the critical gaps in education

infrastructure, I propose to provide Rs.25.00 crore to

BTC in the current budget for this purpose.

KARBI ANGLONG AUTONOMOUS COUNCIL

337. I propose to allot Rs.50.00 crore as one-time special

grant for undertaking various developmental works

in Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council area.

338.Steps will be taken to make the Assam University

Campus set up in Diphu, more vibrant with adequate

infrastructure and academically more efficient and we

will make all serious efforts by taking up with

Government of India.

339.Since, there is only one Government college in Karbi

Anglong Autonomous Council area, I propose one more

Government college for Science stream and for this

purpose I propose to allocate Rs.1.00 crore in 2017-18.

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DIMA HASAO AUTONOMOUS COUNCIL

340. In case of Dima Hasao Autonomous Council also,

Rs.20.00 crore is proposed to be allotted as one-time

special grant.

I would also like to mention here that many other

important announcements in this budget including

new educational institutions, silk mission etc. will also

be implemented in VIth Schedule Areas in addition to

the special schemes to be taken against the one-time

grants as announced above.

PART-II

Respected Sir,

The beginning of the budget process is estimation of

resources and such estimation shall remain theoretical

unless we take comprehensive steps involving policy,

legislative, administrative and regulatory framework of

concerned revenue earning departments.

Over a period of time, such focus on revenue

generation was lacking in the State and I started a separate

presentation in this August House last year dividing Budget

Speech into two parts- the Part II with exclusive emphasis

on augmentation and restructuring of tax revenues.

As stated in my White Paper on state finances tabled

in the House on 3rd May, 2016, our Government highlighted

the strategy and mechanism on measures to be taken for

increased revenue in Assam. It was sought to be achieved

through mission mode approach called Re-START Assam

(Restructuring of Systems and Technology for

Augmentation of Resources for Transformed Assam).

I am pleased to inform the Hon’ble Members that with

the support of our dynamic leader and Hon’ble Chief

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Minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal and active participation

of my cabinet colleagues, the Re-START Assam has been

able to facilitate several such steps involving policies,

legislative and administrative action for improvement and

enhancement of revenue by respective departments.

Our country is poised to implement GST, the most

significant tax reform in the field of indirect taxes, which

is set to be rolled out from 1st July, 2017. The GST Council

is likely to approve the Model GST Law and Rules within

February, 2017. As soon as the draft model GST law/rules

are made available to us by the GST Council, we will place

the Assam GST Bill before you for its consideration.

The prevailing differential tax structure in our country

and more particularly amongst various NE States, has

always been posing serious challenges in tax administration

because of trade diversion and consequent tax evasion. I

am happy to inform this August house that under the

upcoming GST regime, the dream of uniform tax structure

in the entire NE region will be fulfilled and this will result

in stoppage of trade diversion and subsequently, bring

buoyancy in our tax revenues.

I am happy to state that Assam has played a vital role

in GST Council as regards industrial tax exemption. Though

the GST Council refused to consider this amount initially,

this will now be part of revenue of the State for the purpose

of calculating the amount of GST compensation. This

arrangement has specially been done for North Eastern

States and J & K. This is a positive development as our

State will get a benefit of about Rs. 300 crore per annum

in terms of GST compensation for five years with annual

growth rate of 14%.

Further, once GST regime is implemented and

stabilized, it may be possible that we may be in a position

to gradually remove the Check posts subject to any decision

of the GST Council.

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TAX PROPOSALS

Respected Speaker Sir,

This august house will be delighted to know that I do

not want to propose any new tax measure for this financial

year 2017-18. In fact for a change, I would like to give an

account of series of path breaking measures taken by us

in the last few months and I assure you Sir, all these

interventions will be monitored, consolidated and

strengthened during the fiscal of 2017-18.

These measures taken by us have already started

yielding fruits to the State economy. I am happy to share

that there has been buoyancy in revenue collection up to

December, 2016 and this is far higher than any of the

previous years as shown below :

COLLECTION OF REVENUE AS ON 31.12.2016

Sl. No. Department Rs. in crores Growth

Dec, 2016 Dec, 2015

01. Transport 365.04 318.35 14.66%

02. Excise 657.47 537.61 22.30 %

03. Taxation 7237.40 6190.74 17.00 %

04. Mines & Minerals

(Including Oil Royalty)

1555.97 1407.68 10.53 %

Oil Royalty (Arrear) 1450.00 - -

Total (with arrear) 11265.88 8454.38 33.25 %

Total(without arrear) 9815.88 8454.38 16.10 %

To augment revenue collection of the State, many

tangible measures have already been taken. I further

propose to take some measures in this direction and I would

like to give the Hon’ble Members a glimpse of the measures

which have already been taken and which I propose to

take now:

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A. FINANCE (TAXATION) DEPARTMENT :

l Relevant provision of the Assam VAT Act have

already been amended for imposition VAT on sale

of liquor on first sale transaction within the State

in unison with the levy of excise duty on liquor as

per the new Excise Rules 2016. This has been done

in order to arrest evasion of tax taking place through

inter-bond sale route. Besides, MRP based tax has

been introduced in case of liquor.

l Online issuance of statutory forms like Delivery Note

has already commenced.

l The Entry Tax pending in the Supreme Court was

effectively handled and concluded in favour of the

State. This resulted in additional revenue collection

of more than Rs.400 crore.

l VAT on specified petroleum products, which will

not be subsumed into GST immediately, will be

adjusted in such a way that the existing State-

specific charges levied by oil companies on these

items on account of entry tax on crude oil will get

subsumed into VAT so that State do not suffer any

financial loss and consumers also do not pay any

additional tax. We need to take care that we

augment our revenue without putting any

additional burden on our consumerson this count

and we will ensure that.

l The State Government will sign a MOU with CBEC/

CBDT for sharing information or data with State

Government since such sharing of information

among revenue earning Departments is

fundamental for brining efficiency and effectiveness

in any tax administration.

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B. EXCISE

l New Assam Excise Rules 2016 has been notified

from 1st September, 2016 which, inter-alia, has

shifted the point of levy of excise duty to first point

to ensure that only duty paid liquor comes out from

manufactories and this has curbed leakage of excise

revenue.

l New Country Liquor Policy has already been

approved by the Cabinet. This new Policy, which

replaces mahal system, will ensure that the country

spirit is produced in a bottling plant like Indian

Made Foreign Liquor in a hygienic environment with

much better quality.

l Policy on production of traditional/heritage

alcoholic liquor at commercial level is being made

ready.

l Cabinet has also approved amendment in Excise

Rules for according status of bonded warehouse to

CSD Canteens to enable them to pay excise duty

at the time of sale.

l Barcode containing holographic label on the liquor

bottles is being implemented after completing the

formalities like floating the tenders.

l e-Governance has been taken up under the ASPIRe

(Assam State Public Finance Institutional Reforms)

Project and all kinds of revenue collection, permits,

licences shall be made online and fully digital.

l To deal with the menace of illicit liquor, it is

contemplated to make certain offences non-bailable.

C. TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT

l Certain provisions of Assam Motor Vehicle rules,

2003 have been amended for enhancement of

revenue from :-

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l Restructuring of fees for Conductor License,

Duplicate driving License, Trade License of M.V.

Dealers, Agent License, Inspection fee of vehicles

on arrival at Dealers point, Registration permission

of new model of vehicles.

l Auction of Fancy/choice Registration mark.

l Assam Motor Vehicle Taxation Act, 1936 is being

amended for effective taxation on ad-valorem basis

in case of 2 Wheeler/3 wheeler (Private)/Ambulance

(commercial use).

l Online Dealer point registration of vehicle has been

successfully initiated.

D. LAND REVENUE AND REGISTRATION :

l Land re-classification will be done immediately with

online provision as it has proved to be major source

of hindrance to industry and breeding ground for

corruption.

l In eight districts, Mouzadar system will be

introduced in place of existing Tahsildari system.

Sale permission will be made online and time

bound. Land revenue activities will be made online

in an integrated manner. Mouzas will be

computerized. Collection of land revenue will be

monitored online.

E. GEOLOGY AND MINING:

l State Government will pursue auction of marginal

Oil fields.

l Department will take up with Govt. of India for small

coal fields, which are not allotted to any PSU and

vulnerable to illegal mining, for development by the

State Government.

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l Department will come out with a strategy and policy

for managing the non-forest Sand Mahals by the

Department itself.

F. ENVIRONMENT & FOREST DEPTT.:

l Review the issue of Transit Permits to vehicles

entering the State, license for Agar wood industrial

units along with the proposal for flat rate permits.

l 101 new areas identified for extraction of Sand shall

be expedited for commission so that it will fetch

estimated additional revenue of Rs. 45 crore.

TAX EXEMPTIONS :

Sir,

As I stated earlier, I do not wish to put any additional

burden on the people in this budget. Rather I intend to

give some relief to certain sectors which would stimulate

growth in tourism, entertainment, etc.

l We need to boost the tourism industry especially

the ecological and botanical strengths of our State

in rural areas. For this, State Government has

already launched a programme to encourage Home-

Stays in Assam. It is, therefore, required to propose

to exempt luxury tax in respect of hotels and lodging

houses, including home-stays, providing residential

accommodation in rural areas.

l There is a general criticism that modern cinema

halls like multiplexes are not very keen to screen

Assamese/regional films. In order to encourage

exhibition of local films, I propose to grant 50%

entertainment tax exemption for a period of three

years to Permanent multiplexes, which have

commenced or commence their commercial

operation during specified period provided they give

a written undertaking to the effect that they will

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show Assamese/Regional Film in one of the screens,

if such Assamese/Regional Film is available for

screening at a particular point of time.

l In recognition of the contribution of small tea

growers in the economy in Assam, I had reduced

cess on green tea leaf from 25 paise per kg to 15

paise per kg under the Assam Taxation (On

Specified Lands) Act in my last budget and I further

promised to reduce it in phased manner.

Accordingly, I now propose to reduce such cess to

10 paise per kg of green tea leaf for small tea

growers.

l As a goodwill gesture and as a gift to our sisters,

our Government will exempt the women SHGs from

stamp duty for documentation related to Bank loan

upto Rs. 2.5 lakhs in the financial year 2017-18.

In the end, I would like to remind Hon’ble

Members that I dwelt in detail in my last speech

about the taxation as core requirement of any

Government. While our Government is fully

conscious about this, I would also like to highlight

that this Government is not keen to impose the tax

or additional burden unless it is really required to

meet our sovereign and developmental duties. With

the current level of policy reforms coupled with strict

monitoring, we are confident that the revenue

growth rate will improve further in the fiscal 2017-

18.

BUDGET ESTIMATES

l Sir, I come to the Budget estimates for the financial

year 2017-18. Every year State Government has

been placing five year medium term fiscal plan and

the other statements required to be placed in the

House as per Assam Fiscal Responsibility & Budget

(135)

Management Act, 2005. In this regard, you will be

delighted to know that we have tried to improve the

content of this statement by including an Overview

of the State’s Economy, State’s Finances, Fiscal

Correction Path etc.

l The budget estimates of 2017-18 show a receipt of

Rs.84732.16 crore under the consolidated fund of

the State. Out of this, Rs.70719.61 crore is on

Revenue Account and the remaining Rs.14012.55

crore is under Capital Account. I have shown the

estimated receipt in the consolidated fund from

different sources at Table-1. After adding the receipt

of Rs.162580.51 crore under Public Account and

Rs.100 crore under Contingency Fund, the

aggregate receipts amount to Rs.247412.67 crore.

As against this, total expenditure from the

consolidated fund of the of the State in 2017-18 is

estimated at Rs.85922.69 crore of which

Rs.68319.45 crore is on Revenue Account and

Rs.17603.24 crore is on Capital Account. The

estimates of grant-wise expenditure from the

Consolidated Fund during 2017-18 have been

shown in Table-2. Taking into account the

expenditure of Rs.161757.17 crore under Public

Account and Rs.100 crore under Contingency Fund,

the aggregate expenditure for the year is estimated

at Rs.247779.86 crore. Thus, estimated transactions

during the year will result in an estimated deficit

of Rs.367.19 crore. This, together with the opening

deficit of Rs.1982.60 crore will lead to a budget

deficit of Rs.2349.79 crore at the end of the financial

year 2017-18.

l In the last budget, we had made number of

announcements. This obviously generates questions

in the mind of our people whether we will be able

(136)

to implement them. Undoubtedly, implementation

is a big challenge. But, we will make sincere efforts

involving everyone in the true spirit of Team Assam

so that the fruits of the programmes announced in

this Budget reach the common people.

With this, I commend this budget for consideration of

this August House.

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* * *

JAI AAI ASOM

BHARAT MATA KI JAI

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